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FUBLISHERS TO THE USIVERSITT OF 

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THE SATIRES 



OF 



a:persius flaccus 



WITH A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY 

BY y 

JOHN CONINGTON, M.A. . 

LATE CORPUS PROFBSSOR OF LATIN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 



To wbicb is prefixed 

A Lecture on the Life and Writings of Persius 

Delivered at Oxford by tbe same autbor, January 1855 



BDITED BY 



H. NETTLESHIP, M.A. 

FORMERLY FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE. OXFORD 
ASSISTANT MASTER IN HARROW SCHOOL 



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PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 



MOST of the late Mr. Conington's friends and pupils will 
remember his lectures on Persius, which were perhaps the 
most generally popular of all that he gave during his tenure 
of the chair of Latin at Oxford, owing to the sympathetic 
humour with which he caught the peculiar force and flavour 
of his author's manner, as well as to the nerve and spirit of 
his translation. The lecture prefixed to the commentary and 
translation now published was among the first-fruits of his 
professorial labours. I have no means of knowing how far he 
cohsidered it a final exposition of his views on Persius ; but 
its interest and merit are such that I need not, I am sure, 
apologize for having it printed exactly as it was delivered. 
The commentary and translation were written to be delivered 
as lectures ; but Mr. Conington left them in a state so nearly 
finished that little remained for an editor to do but to ex- 
amine and fill in the references — a task which, owing to the 
pressure of other work, I have been unable to fulfil as quickly 
as I had originally hoped. Here and there I have added an 
obvious parallel passage, and have also put in some references 
to works now recognized as of standard authority which had 
not appeared at the time when the notes were written. The 
references to Lucretius, Catullus, and Propertius I have altered 
(where necessary) to suit Munro's, Ellis', and Paley's editions 
respectively. 



PREFACE. 

The text adopted by Mr. Conington as a basis for his notes 
was Otto Jahn's of 1843. In 1868, however, Jahn published 
a new text, which differs in many places from his earlier one. 
I do not know how far, if at all, Mr. Conington would have 
foUowed him in his alterations, and have therefore been guided 
by the translation in fixing the reading to be adopted where 
doubt would have arisen. It will thus be found that the pre- 
sent text approximates, on the whole, more nearly to Jahn's 
of 1843 than to that of 1868. 

Mr. Conington collated, or had coUated for him, seven MSS. 
of Persius, two of which are in the Gale coUection in the 
library of Trinity College, Cambridge. One of these is known 
as Bentley*s Codex Galeanus, and is lettered y by Jahn in 
his edition of 1843. * It is,' says Mr. Conington in his descrip- 
tion of it, *a small vellum MS. of the 8vo or i2mo size. It 
contains Horatii Opera^ Persii Satirae, Theoduli Eclogaey 
Cato de MoribuSy and Aviani Fdbulae, Collations of the Avi- 
anus, the Persius, and the Cato, were published in the Classical 
Journal, vol. 4, the former at pp. 120 foll., the two latter at 
PP- 353 foll> by M. D. B. The Persius coUation is very scanty 
and not always accurate: but it appears to be the only one 
known to Jahn. Mr. Bradshaw refers the MS. to the twelfth 
or thirteenth century, almost certainly the former.' The other 
MS, in the Gale collection is referred by Mr. Bradshaw to the 
ninth or tenth century, and is the most valuable of the seven 
MSS. collated. It consists of one hundred and ten folios in 
quires of eight, beginning on the second folio of the first quire, 
and contains Juvenalis Satirae i, Annotatio Cornuti 93, Persii 
Satirarum Proemium 94 verso, Persii Satirae 95. ' It appears,* 
(I quote from Mr. Conington) 'to be written throughout in the 
same hand, the glosses being written in a much smaller cha- 
racter. The only doubt is about certain glosses on the margin 



PREFACE. vii 

of the first four pages of the Persius (fol. 94 verso to fbl. 96), 
where the letters are tall and thin, not, as generally, broad and 
flat. The characters, however, appear to be the same. There 
are other glosses, apparently written at the same time as the 
text and in the same hand, some between the Hnes, some 
towards the margin, evidently earlier than those just spoken 
of, which in one place leave a space in the middle of a line for 
an intrusive word of the earlier gloss written out of the straight 
line. These earlier glosses are much less copious than the later: 
they extend, however, somewhat further, to folio 98, the end 
of Sat I, after which they almost disappear, scarcely averaging 
one in a page.* The chief peculiarity of the writing of this MS. 
(which I have myself collated with Jahn's text of 1868) is the 
shape of r, which is so formed as to be easily confused with «. 
J initial is often written tall, so that in Sat. 4. 35 it is not at 
first sight easy to decide whether the reading is in mores or 
hi mores. As regards orthography, this MS. is much freer from 
mistakes than the MS. of Juvenal bound in the same cover and 
apparently written by the sanie hand, in the tenth satire of 
which I found such misspellings as gretia for Graecia^ canicies 
for canitieSy contentus for concentus^ sotio for sociOy and thomatula 
for tomacula, This confusion between c and / is almost un- 
known to the MS. of Persius : patritiae (Sat. 6. 73) being per- 
haps the only instance of it. In Sat. i. 116, however, it is diffi- 
cult to make out whether the scribe has written muti or muci, 
The chief confusions of consonants which this MS. exhibits are 
between b and p (pbtare for optare^ rapiosa for rabiosa) : between 
g and gu {pingue for pinge^ longuos for longos) : between s and 
ss {ammisusy asigna for amissus^ assigna: cassiam^ recusso for 
casiam, recusOy etc.) : between m and mm^ p and />/, c and cc 
{imitere for immittere^ ammomis for amomiSy suppellex for supellex^ 
quipe for quippCy peccori for pecori, etc.) Among the vowels, a 



viH PREFACE. 

and o are occasionally confused, as centurianum^ Salones for 
centurionum^ Solones: so with o and u (fumusa^ furtunare for 
fumosa, fortunare ; sopinus^ conditor ior supinus^conditur) : to say 
nothing of the interchange, common in such MSS., of ae and e^ 
y and L The monosyllabic prepositions are almost invariably 
joined with their nouns [etumulo^ inluxum, etc.) and sometimes 
even assimilated. The same is often the case with monosyl- 
labic conjunctions {cumscribo^ noncocta^ sivocety etc.) In words 
compounded with in^ the preposition is sometimes assimilated, 
sometimes not : thus we find inprimit^ inprobe^ conpossitum by 
the side of implerunt, impulit^ compossitus. Ad, on the other 
hand, is generally assimilated : arrodens^ afferre^ assit^ &c. 

*It is doubtful,' says Mr. Conington, 'whether this MS. was 
known until lately, as it was generally classed simply as a MS. 
of Juvenal.' I have therefore thought it worth while to give a 
fuller account of it than is required by the others, and have had 
its various readings printed in italics under the text, though 
they add little or nothing to the materials collected in Jahn's 
elaborate apparatus criticus of 1843. 

The other MSS. are — 

(i) In the Library of the British Museum (Royal MSS. 15, 
B. xix. f. iii), assigned to the earlier part of the tenth cen- 
tury. It is lettered p by Jahn, who apparently only knew it 
through a coUation made by Bentley, and published in the 
Classical Joumal, xviii, p. 62 foll. (Jahn, Prolegomena to edition 
of 1843, p. ccxiii.) A much fuUer coUation of it was made for 
Mr. Conington by Mr. Richard Sims, of the MS. Department of 
the British Museum. The orthography of this MS. is not so 
good as that of the one last mentioned. 

(2) In the Library of the British Museum (Add. MSS. 15601). 
Assigned to the end of the tenth or beginning of the eleventh 
century. Collated by Mr. Sims. 



PREFACE. ix 

(3) In the Bodleian Library (799 Arch. F. 58). Assigned by 
Mr. Coxe to the early twelfth century. Collated by Mr. 
Conington. 

(4) In the Library of the British Museum (Add. MSS. 11 672). 
Assigned to the thirteenth century. Collated by Mr. Sims to 
the fifty-sixth line of Sat. 2. 

(5) In the I^ibrary of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. This 
MS. contains Juvenalis^ Persius cum notiSy Dionysii Periegesis ex 
versione Prisciani^ Anonymus de Tropis et FiguriSy Ciceronis 
Orationes in Catilinam cum commentario. The Persius was 
coUated by Hauthal (who finally assigned the MS. to the end 
of the fourteenth century) in 1831, and subsequently by Mr. 
Conington. Hauthal communicated the results of all his 
coUations to Jahn (Jahn, Prolegomena, p. ccxiv). 

H. NETTLESHIP. 
Harrow, May 18, 1872. 



ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 

In Quotations from MS. 

Prologue 14, add pegasieum melos. 

Sat. I. 36, „ nunc nunc. poeta, 
^3> >f ^ om. 
66, „ dirigat. 



» 

»» 



In Translation. 

P. 2g,/br hours read homs. 

In Notes. 

Sat. I. I, for Prop. 3. 2 (4). 4 read Prop. 4. 3. 4. 

30, „ Fulfennius read Pulfennius. 

38, „ Prop. 3. 4. 15 (2. 13. 32) read Prop. 3. 4. 32. 

53, „ Prop. 3. 4. 14 read Prop. 4. 6. 14. 

63, „ Paen. read Poen. 

70, „ Prop. 2. 2. 52 read Frop, 2. 3. 42. 

72, „ Prop. 4. 4. 73 „ Prop. 4. 5. 73. 



»> 
» 
»» 
» 
» 
» 
» 
» 
» 



76, „ Prop. 4 (3) „ Prop. 4. 
78, „ Prop. 3 (4) „ Prop. 4. 
106, „ Prop. 4. 8. 68 „ Prop. 5. 8. 68. 



CONTENTS. 



PAOE 

Lecture on the Life and Writings of Persius . . . xiii 

Prologue 2 

Satire 1 8 

II 36 

„ III 60 

„ IV 12 

V 82 

VI 116 



9> 



„ 



„ 



i: 



LECTURE 



OSr THE 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. 



Delivered at O^ford^ January 24, 1853. 



It is my intention for the present to deliver general lectures from time 
to time on the characteristics of some of the authors whom I may select 
as subjects for my terminal courses. To those who propose to attend 
my classes they will serve as Prolegomena, grouping together various 
matters which will meet us afterwards as they lie scattered up and down 
the course of our expository readings, and giving the point of view from 
which they are to be regarded : to others I trust they may not be without 
their use as Sketches Historical and Literary, complete in themselves, in 
which an attempt will be made to bring out the various features and cir- 
cumstances of each author into a broad general light, and exhibit the 
interest which they possess when considered independently of critical 
minutiae. 

The writer of whom I am to speak to-day is one who, as it seemsjo 
me, supplies ample materials both for detailed study and for a more 
transient survey. It is a very superficial criticism which would pretend 
that the reputation of Persius is owing simply to the labour which has 
been spent upon him: still, where the excellence of an author is un- 
doubted, the difficulties of his thought or his language are only so many 
additional reasons why the patient and prolonged study of him is sure to 
be profitable. The difficulties of Persius, too, have the advantage of 
being definite and unmistakable — like those of Aeschylus, not like those 
of Sophocles — difl5culties which do not elude the grasp, but close with it 



xiv LECTURE ON THE 

fairly, and even if they should be stiil unvanquished, are at any rate 
palpably felt and appreciated. At the same time he presents many 
salient points to the general student of literature : his individual charac- 
teristics as a writer are sufficiently prominent to strike the most careless 
eye; his philosophical creed, ardently embraced and reahzed with more 
or less distinctness, is that which proved itself most congenial to the best 
parts of the Roman mind, the Stoicism of the empire ; while his profes- 
sion of authorship, as avowed by himself, associates him not only with 
Horace, but with the less known name of Lucilius, and the original con- 
ception of Roman satire. 

The information which we possess conceming the personal history of 
Persius is more copious than might have been expected in the case of 
one whose life was so short and so uneventfuL His writings, indeed, 
cannot be compared with the 'votive tablets' on which his two great 
predecessors delighted to inscribe their own memoirs : on the contrary, 
except in one famous passage, the autobiographical element is scarcely 
brought forward at all. We see his character written legibly enough in 
every line, and there are various minute traces of experience with which 
the facts of his life, when ascertained, are perceived to accord ; but no 
one could have attempted to construct his biography from his Satires 
without passing even those extended limits within which modern criti- 
cism is pleased to expatiate. £ut there is a memoir, much more full 
than most of the biographical notices of that period, and apparently 
quite authentic, the authorship of which, after being variousiy assigned to 
his instructor and literary executor Comutus, and to Suetonius, is now 
generally fixed, agreeably to the testimony of the best MSS., on Valerius 
Probus, the celebrated contemporary grammarian, from whose com- 
mentary, doubtless an exposition of the Satires, it is stated to have been 
extracted. Something has still been left to the ingenuity or research of 
later times to supply, in the way of conjectural correction or illustration, 
and in this work no one has been more diligent than Otto Jahn, to whom 
Persius is probably more indebted than to any other editor, with the 
single exception of Casaubon. I have, myself, found his commentary 
quite invaluable while preparing my own notes, and I shall have to draw 
frequently upon his Prolegomena in the course of the present lecture. 

Aulus Persius Flaccus was born on the 4th of December, a.d. 34, little 
more than two years before the des^th of Tiberius, at Volaterrae in 
Etruria, a country where antiquity of descent was most carefiilly 
cherished, and which had recently produced two men well known in 
the annals of the empire, Maecenas and Sejanus. His father was of 
equestrian rank, and his relatives included some of the first men of his 
time. The connection of the family with his birth-place is substantiated 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xv 

by inscriptions which have been discovered there, as its memory was 

long preserved by a tradition professing to point out his residence, and 

by the practice of a noble house which was in the habit of using his 

name. That name was already not unfamiliar at Rome, having been 

borne by a contemporary of Lucilius, whose critical judgment the old 

poet dreaded as that of the most learned man of the age, as well as by 

a successful ofiicer in the time of the Second Punic War. Persius' early 

life was passed in his native town, a time to which he seems to allude 

when he speaks of himself in his third satire as evading the lessons in 

which he was expected to distinguish himself by his admiring father, and 

ambitious only of eminence among his playmates. When he was six 

years old his father died, and his mother, Fulvia Sisennia, a genuine 

Etruscan name, found a second husband, also of equestrian rank, called 

Fusius, who within a fejv years left her a second time a widow. At 

twelve years of age Persius was removed to Rome, where he studied 

under Remmius Palaemon the grammarian, and Verginius Flavius the 

rhetorician. Of the latter, we only know that he had the honour of being 

banished by Nero — on account, so Tacitus says, of the splendour of his 

reputation — ^in the burst of jealous fury which foUowed the conspiracy of 

Piso; that he wrote a treatise on rhetoric, to which Quintilian so re- 

peatedly refers as authoritative, and that he made a joke on a tedious 

rival, asking him how many miles long his speech had been. Of the 

former, an odious character is given by Suetonius, who says that his 

extraordinary memory and facility of expression made him the most 

popular teacher in Rome, but represents him as a man of inordinate 

vanity and arrogance, and so infamous for his vices that both Tiberius 

and Claudius openly declared him to be the last man who ought to be 

trusted with the instruction of youth. The silence with which Persius 

passes over this part of his experience may perhaps be regarded as 

significant when we contrast it with the language in which he speaks of 

the next stage in his education. It was, he tells us, when he first laid 

aside the emblems of boyhood and assumed the toga — just at the time 

when the sense of freedom begins, and life is seen to diverge into dif- 

ferent paths — that he placed himself under another guide, This was 

Annaeus Cornutus, a Stoic philosopher of great name, who was himself 

afterwards banished by Nero for an uncourtly speech, — a man who, like 

Probus, has become a sort of mythical critic, to whom mistake or forgery 

has ascribed writings really belonging to a much later period. The con- 

nection thus formed was never afterwards broken, and from that time 

Persius seems to have declared himself a disciple of Stoicism. The 

creed was one to which his antecedents naturally pointed, as he was 

related to Arria, daughter of that 'true wife' who taught her husband 



xvi LECTURE ON THE 

how to die, and herself married to Thrasea, the biographer and imitator 
of the younger Cato. His literary profession was made soon after his 
education had been completed. He had previously written several 
juvenile works — a tragedy, the name of which has probably been lost 
by a corruption in the MS. account of his life ; a poem on Travelling 
(perhaps a record of one of his tours with Thrasea, whose favourite and 
frequent companion he was) in imitation of Horace's Journey to Brun- 
dusiimi, and of a similar poem by Lucilius ; and a few verses commemo- 
rative of the elder Arria. Afterwards, when he was fresh from his 
studies, the reading of the tenth book of Lucilius diverted his poetical 
ambition into a new channel, and he applied himself eagerly to the 
composition of satires after the model of that which had impressed him 
so strongly. The later Scholiasts, a class of men who are rather apt to 
evolve facts, as well as their causes, partly from the text itself which they 
have to illustrate, partly from their general knowledge of human nature, 
tell us that this ardour did not preclude considerable vacillation: he 
deliberated whether to write or not, began and left oflf, and then began 
again. One of these accounts says that he hesitated for some time 
between a poetical and a military life — a strange but perhaps not in- 
credible story, which would lead us to regard the frequent attacks on the 
army in his Satires not merely as expressions of moral or constitutional 
antipathy, but as protests against a former taste of his own, which may 
possibly have still continued to assert itself in spite of the precepts of 
philosophy. He wrote slowly, and at rare intervals, so that we may 
easily imagine the six Satires which we possess — ^an imperfect work, we are 
told — to represent the whole of his career as a professed author. The 
remaining notices of his life chiefly respect the friends with whom his 
philosophical or literary sympathies led him to associate. The earliest 
of these were Caesius Bassus, to whom his sixth satire is addressed — 
himself a poet of some celebrity, being the only one of his generation 
whom Quintilian could think of including with Horace in the class of 
Roman lyrists — and Calpumius Statura, whose very name is a matter 
of uncertainty. He was also intimate with Servilius Nonianus, who 
would seem from an incidental notice to have been at one time his 
preceptor— a man of consular dignity, distinguished, as Tacitus informs 
us, not merely by high reputation as an orator and a historian, but hy 
the polished elegance of his life. His connection with Comutus, who 
was probably a freedman of the Annaean family, introduced him to 
Lucan ; and dissimilar as their temperaments were, the young Spaniard 
did ample justice to the genius of his friend, scarcely restraining himself 
from clamorous expressions of rapture when he heard him recite his 
verses. At a later period Persius made the acquaintance of Seneca, but 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xvii 

did not admire him. Two other persons, who had been fellow-students 
with him upder Cornutus, are mentioned as men of great learning and 
unblemished life, and zealous in the pursuit of philosophy — Claudius 
Agathemeras of Lacedaemon, known as a physician of some name, and 
Petronius Aristocrates of Magnesia. Such were his occupations, and 
such the men with whom he lived. The sixth satire gives us some 
information about his habits of life, though not more than we might 
have been entitled to infer from our knowledge of his worldly circum- 
stances and of the custom of the Romans of his day. We see him there 
retired from Rome for the winter to a retreat on the bay of Luna, where 
his mother seems to have lived since her second marriage, and indulging 
in recoUections of Ennius ' formal announcement of the beauties of the 
scene, while realizing in his own person the lessons of content and 
tranquility which he had learned from the Epicureanism of Horace no 
less than from the Stoicism of his philosophical teachers. This may 
probably have been his last work — ^written, as some have thought from 
intemal evidence, under the consciousness that he had not long to live, 
though we must not press the language about his heir, in the face of 
what we are told of his actual testamentary dispositions. The details of 
his death state that it took place on the 24th of November, a.d. 62, 
towards the end of his twenty-eighth year, of a disease of the stomach, 
on an estate of his own eight miles from Rome, on the Appian road. 
His whole fortune, amounting to two million sesterces, he left to his 
mother and sister, with a request that a sum, variously stated at a 
hundred thousand sesterces, or twenty pounds weight of silver, might 
be given to his old preceptor, together with his library, seven hundred 
volumes, chiefly, it would. seem, works of Chrysippus, who was a most 
voluminous writer. Cornutus showed himself worthy of his pupil's 
liberality by relinquishing the money and accepting the books only. 
He also undertook the office of reviewing his works, recommending 
that the juvenile productions should be destroyed, and preparing the 
Satires for publication by a few slight corrections and the omission 
of some lines at the end, which seemed to leave the work imperfect — 
perhaps, as Jahn supposes, the fragment of a new satire. They were 
ultimately edited by Caesius Bassus, at his own request, and acquired 
instantaneous popularity. The memoir goes on to tell us that Persius 
was beautiful in person, gentle in manners, a man of maidenly modesty, 
an excellent son, brother, and nephew, of frugal and moderate habits. 
This is all that we know of his life — enough to give the personal interest 
which a reader of his writings will naturally require, and enough, too, 
to furnish a bright page to a history where bright pages are few. Persius 
was a Roman, but the only Rome that he knew by experience was the 

b 



xviii LECTURE ON THE 

Rome of Tiberius, CaTigula, Claudius, and Nero — the Rome which 
Tacitus and Suetonius have poiulrayed, and which pointed St. Paul's 
denunciation of the moral state of the heathen world. Stoicism was not 
regnant but militant — it produced. not heroes or statiesmen, but con- 
fessors and martyrs ; and the early death which cut short the promise of 
its Marcellus could not in such an age be called unseasonable. 

It was about two hundred years since a Stoic had first appeared in 
Rome as a member of the philosophic embassy which Athens «de- 
spatched to propitiate the conquering city. Like his companions, he 
was bidden to go back to his school and lecture there, leaving the youth 
of Rome to receive their education, as heretofore, from the magistrates 
and the laws; but though the rigidity of the elder Cato triumphed 
for a time, it was not sufl&cient eflfectually to exorcise the new spirit. 
Panaetius, under whose influence the soul of Stoicism became more 
humane and its form n:iore graceful, gained the friendship of Laelius, 
and through him of Scipio Aemilianus, whom he accompanied on the 
mission which the conqueror of Carthage undertook to the kings of 
Eg)rpt and Asia in alliance with the republic. The foreign philosophy 
was next admitted to mould the most characteristic of all the pro- 
ductions of the Roman mind — ^its jurisprudence, being embraced by 
a long line of illustrious legists ; and the relative duties of civil life were 
defined and limited by conceptions borrowed from Stoic morality. It 
was indeed a doctrine which, as soon as the national prejudice against 
imported novelties and a systematic cultivation had been surmounted, 
was sure to prove itself congenial to the strictness and practicality of the 
old Roman character; and when in the last struggles of the common- 
wealth the younger Cato endeavoured to take up the position of his 
great ancestor as a reformer of manners, his rule of life was derived not 
only from the traditions of imdegenerate antiquity, but from the precepts 
of Antipater and Athenodorus. The lesson was one not to be soon 
lost. At the extinction of the republic, Stoicism lived on at Rome under 
the imperial shadow, and the govemment of Augustus is said to have 
been rendered milder by the counsels of one of its professors ; but when 
the pressure of an undisguised despotism began to caU out the old 
republican feeling, the elective aflanity was seen to assert itself again. 
This was the complexion of things which Persius found, and which he 
left. That sect, as the accuser of Thrasea reminded the emperor, had 
produced bad citizens even under the former regime: its present ad- 
herents were men whose very deportment was an implied rebuke to the 
habits of the imperial court ; its chief representative had abdicated his 
ofl^cial duties and retired into an unpatriotic and insulting privacy ; and 
the public records of the administration of aflfairs at home and abroad 



\ 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF FERSIUS. xix 

were only so many registers of his sins of omission. There was, in 
tnith, no encouragement to pursue a diflferent course. Seneca's attempt 
to seat philosophy on the throne by influencing the mind of Nero, had 
issued only in his own moral degradation as the lying apologist of 
matricide, and the receiver of a bounty which in one of its aspects was 
plunder, in another corruption ; and though his retirement, and still more 
his death, may have sufficed to rescue his memory from obloquy, they 
could only prove that he had learned too late what the more consistent 
members of the fraternity knew from the beginning. From such a 
govemment the only notice that a Stoic could expect or desire was the 
sentence which hurried him to execution or drove him into banishment. 
Even under the rule of Vespasian the antagonism was still unabated. 
At the moment of his accession, Euphrates the Tyrian, who was in 
his train, protested against the ambition which sought to aggrandize 
itself when it might have restored the republic. Helvidius Priscus, 
following, and perhaps deforming, the footsteps of his father-in-law 
Tbrasea, ignored the political existence of the emperor in his edicts 
as praetor, and asserted his own equality repeatedly by a freedom of 
speech amounting to personal insult, till at last he succeeded in ex- 
hausting the forbearance of Vespasian, who put him to death and 
banished the philosophers from Italy. A similar expulsion took place 
under Domitian, who did not require much persuasion to induce him to 
adopt a policy recommended by the instinct of self-preservation no less 
than by Nero's example. Meantime, the spirit of Stoicism was gra- 
dually undergoing a change. The theoretic parts of the system, its 
physics and its dialectics, had found comparatively litde favour with the 
Roman mind, and had passed into the shade in consequence : but it was 
still a foreign product, a matter of learning, the subject of a voluminous 
literature, and as such a discipline to which only the few could submit 
It was still the oki conception of the wise man as an ideal rather than a 
reality, a being necessarily perfect, and therefore necessarily super- 
human. Now, however, the ancient exclusiveness was to be relaxed, 
and the invitation to humanity made more general. 'Strange and 
shocking would it be,' said Musonius Rufus, the one philosopher 
exempted from Vespasian's sentence, ' if the tillers of the ground were 
incapacitated from philosophy, which is really a business of few words, 
not of many theories, and far better learnt in a practical country life than 
in the schools of the city.' In short, it was to be no longer a philosophy 
but a religion. Epictetus, the poor crippled slave, as his epitaph pro- 
claims him, whom the gods loved, turned Theism from a speculative 
dogma into an operative principle, bidding his disciples foUow the divine 
service, imitate the divine life, implore the divine aid, and rest on the 

b 2 



XX LECTURE ON THE \ 

divine providence. Dependence on the Deity was taught as a cc^- 
relative to independence of extemal circumstances, and the ancient pricfe 
of the Porch exchanged for a humility so genuine that men have en- 
deavoured to trace it home to a Christian congregation. A Stoic thus 
schooled was not likely to become a political propagandist, even if the 
memory of the republic had been fresh, and the imperial power had 
continued to be synonymous with tyranny — ^much less after the assas- 
sination of Domitian had inaugurated an epoch of which Tacitus could 
speak as the fulfilment of the brightest dreams of the tniest lovers of 
freedom. Fifty years rolled away, and govemment became continually 
better, and the pursuit of wisdom more and more honourable, tiU at last 
the ideal of Zeno himself was realized, and a Stoic ascended the throne 
of the Caesars, and the philosophy of political despair seemed to have 
become the creed of political hope. The character of Marcus Aurelius 
is one that it is ever good to dwell on, and our sympathies cling round 
the man that could be rigorously severe to himself while tenderly in- 
dulgent to his people, whose love -broke out in their fond addresses to 
him as their father and their brother : yet the peace of his reign was 
blasted by natural calamities, torn by civil discord, and tainted by the 
cormption of his own house, and at his death the fair promise of the 
commonwealth and of philosophy expired together. Commodus ruled 
the Roman world, and Stoicism, the noblest of the later systems, fell the 
first before the stmggles of the enfeebled yet resisting rivals, and the 
victorious advances of a new and living faith. 

It is not often that a poet has been so completely identified with a 
system of philosophy as Persius. Greece had produced poets who were 
philosophers, and philosophers who were writers of poetry ; yet our first 
thought of Aeschylus is not as of a Pjrthagorean, or of Euripides as 
of a foUower of the Sophists; nor should we classify Xenophanes or 
Empedocles primarily as poets of whose writings only fragments remain. 
In Lucretius and Persius, on the other hand, we see men who hold a 
prominent place among the poets of their countiy, yet whose poetry is 
devoted to the enforcement of their peculiar philosophical views. The 
fact is a significant one, and symptomatic of that condition of Roman 
culture which I have noticed on a former occasion. It points to an age 
and nation where philosophy is a permanent, not a progressive study — 
an imported commodity, not an indigenous growth, — ^where the impulse 
that gives rise to poetry is not so much a desire to give musical voice to 
the native thought and feeling of the poet and his fellow-men, as a 
recognition of the want of a national literature and a wish to contribute 
towards its supply. At first sight there may seem something extravagant 
in pretending that Persius can be called the poet of Stoicism in the sense 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xxi 

in which Lucretius is the poet of Epicureanism, as if there were equal 
scope for the exposition of a philosophy in a few scholastic exercises 
and in an elaborate didactic poem. On the other hand, it should be 
recoUected that under the iron grasp of the Roman mind, Stoicism, as 
was just now remarked, was being reduced more and more to a simply 
practical system, bearing but a faint impress of those abstruse cosmo- 
logical speculations which had so great a charm for the intellect of Greece 
even in its most sober moments, and exhibiting in place of them an 
applicability to civil life the warit of which had been noted as a defect in 
the conceptions of Zeno and Chrysippus ^. The library and the lecture- 
room still were more familiar to it than the forum or the senate ; but the 
transition had begun : and though Persius may have looked to his seven 
hundred volumes for his principles of action, as he did to Horace for in- 
formation about the ways of the world, the only theory which he strove 
to inculcate was the knowledge which the founders of his sect, in com- 
mon with Socrates, believed to be the sole groundwork of correct prac- 
tice. Using the very words of Virgil, he calls upon a benighted race to 
acquaint itself with the causes of things : but the invitation is not to that 
study of the stars in their courses, of eclipses, and earthquakes and 
inundations, of the laws goveming the length of days and nights, which 
enabled Lucretius to triumph over the fear of death, but to an inquiry 
into the purpose of man's being, the art of skilful driving in the chariot- 
race of life, the limits to a desire of wealth and to its expenditure on 
unselfish objects, and the ordained position of each individual in the 
social system. Such an apprehension of his subject would naturally lead 
him not to the treatise, but to the sermon — not to the didactic poem, but 
to the satire or moral epistle. But though the form of the composition 
is desultory, the spirit is in the main definite and consistent. Even in 
the first satire, in which he seems to drop the philosopher and assume 
the critic, we recognize the same belief in the connection between intel- 
lectual knowledge and practice, and consequently between a corrupt 
taste and a relaxed morality, which shines out so clearly afterwards when 
he tells the enfranchised slave that he cannot move a finger withoui 
committing a blunder, and that it is as portentous for a man to take 
part in life without study as it would be for a ploughman to attempt to 
bring a ship into port. It is true that he foUows Horace closely, not 
only in his illustrations and descriptions of manners, but in his lessons 
of morality — a strange deference to the man who ridiculed Crispinus and 
Damasippus, and did not even spare the great Stertinius; but the evil 
and foUy of avarice, the wisdom of contentment and self-control, and the 

* Cic. Leg. 3. 6. 



xxii LECTURE ON THE 

duty of sincerity towards man and God, were doctrines at least as cori- 
genial to a Stoic as to an Epicurean, and the ambition with which the 
pupil is continually seeking to improve upon his master^s felicity of 
expression shows itself more successfully in endeavours to give greater 
stringency to his rule of life and conduct. In one respect, certainly, we 
may wonder that he has failed to represent the views of that section of 
the Stoics with which he is reported to have lived on terms of familiar 
intercourse. There is no trace of that political feeling which might have 
been expected to appear in the writings of a youth who was brought 
into frequent contact with the revolutionary enthusiasm of Lucan, and 
may probably have been present at one of the banquets with which 
Thrasea and Helvidius used to celebrate the birthdays of the first and 
the last of the great republican worthies. The supposed allusions to the 
poetical character of Nero in the first satire shrink almost to nothing in 
the light of a searching criticism, while the tradition that in the original 
draught the emperor was directly satirized as Midas receives no counte- 
nance, to say the least, from the poem itself, the veiy point of which, so 
far as we can apprehend it, depends on the truth of the reading given in 
the MSS. The fourth satire does undoubtedly touch on statesmanship : 
but the tone throughout is that of a student, who in his eagemess to 
imitate Plato has apparently forgotten that he is himself living not under 
a popular but under an imperial govemment, and the moral intended to 
be conveyed is simply that the adviser of the public ought to possess 
some better qualification than those which were found in Aldbiades — a 
topic about as appropriate to the actual state of Rome as the school- 
boy's exhortation to Sulla to lay down his power. Thus his language, 
where he does speak, enables us to interpret his silence as the silence 
not of acquiescence or even of timidity, though such times as his might 
well justify caution, but rather of unworldly innocence, satisfied with its 
own aspirations after moral perfection, and dreaming of Athenian licence 
under the very shade of despotism. On the other hand, it is perfectly 
intelligible that he should have seen little to admire in Seneca, many as 
are the coincidences which their common philosophy has produced in 
their respective writings. There could, indeed, have been but little 
sympathy between his simple earnestness and that rhetorical facility — 
that Spanish taste for inappropriate and meretricious ornament — that 
tolerant and compromising temper, able to live in a court while 
unable to live in exile, which, however compatible with real wisdom 
and virtue, must have seemed to a Stoic of a severer type only so 
many qualifications for efFectually betraying the good cause. So, ag-ain, 
he does not seem to exhibit any anticipation of the distinctly human 
and religious development which, as we have seen, was the final phase 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xxiii 

of Stoicism. His piety is simply the rational piety which would approve 
itself to any Roman moralist — the piety recominended by Horace, and 
afterwards by Juvenal — pronouncing purity of intent to be more accept- 
able in the sight of Heaven than costly sacrifice, and bidding men ask 
of the gods such things only as divine beings would wish to grant 
In like manner his humanity, though genial in its practical aspect, is 
still narrowed on the speculative side by the old sectarian exclusiveness 
which barred the path of life to every one not entering through the gate 
of philosophy. In short, he is a disciple of the earlier Stoicism of the 
empire — a Roman in his predilection for the ethical part of his creed, 
yet conforming in other respects to the primitive traditions of Greece — 
neither a patriot nor a courtier, but a recluse student, an ardent teacher 
of the truths which he had himself leamt, without the development which 
might have been generated by more mature thought, or the abatement 
which might have been forced upon him by a longer experience. 

We have already observed that the character of Persius* opinions 
determined his choice of a poetical vehicle for expressing them. With 
his views it would have been as unnatural for him to have composed 
a didactic treatise, like Lucretius, or a republican epic, like Lucan, as 
to have rested satisfied with multiplying the productions of his own boy- 
hood tragedies and pilgrimages in verse. And now, what was the 
nature and what the historical antecedents of that form of composition 
which he adopted as most congenial to him ? 

The exploded derivation of satire from the Greek satyric drama is 
one of those not infrequent instances where a false etymology has pre- 
served a significant truth. There seems every reason to believe that the 
first beginnings of satire among the Romans are parallel to the rudi- 
mental type from which dramatic entertainments were developed in 
Greece. * When I am reading on these two subjects,' says Dryden, in 
Ws admirable essay on Satire, 'methinks I hear the same story told 
twice over with very little alteration.' The primitive Dionysiac festivals 
of the Greek rustic populations seem to have answered with sufiicient 
exactness to the harvest-home rejoicings of agricultural Italy described 
by Horace, when the country wits encountered each other in Fescennine 
verses. Nor did the resemblance cease at this its earliest stage. Im- 
provised repartee was succeeded by pantomimic representation and 
dancing to music, and in process of time the two elements, combined 
yet discriminated from each other, assumed the form of a regular play, 
with its altemate dialogues and cantica. Previous to this later develop- 
ment there had been an intermediate kind of entertainment called 
the saiura or medley, either from the miscellaneous character of its 
matter, which appears to have made no pretence to a plot or story, 



XXIV LECTURE ON THE 

or firom the variety of measures of which it was composed — a more 
professional and artistic exhibition than the Fescennine bantering- 
matches, but far removed from the organized completeness of even the 
earlier drama. It was on this narrow ground that the independence of 
the Roman genius was destined to assert itself. Whether from a wish 
to take advantage of the name, or to preserve a thing, once popular, 
from altogether dying out in the process of improvement, a feeling which 
we know to have operated in the case of the exodia or interludes intro- 
duced into the representation of the Atellan^e plays, Ennius was led to 
produce certain compositions which he called satires, seemingly as 
various both in character and in versification as the old dramatic 
medley, but intended not for acting but for reciting or reading — in 
other words, not plays but poems. All that we know of these is com- 
prised in a few tities and a very few fragments, none of which tell us 
much, coupled with the fact that in one of them Life and Death were 
introduced contending with each other as two allegorical personages, 
like Fame in Virgil, as Quintilian remarks, or Virtue and Pleasure in 
the moral tale of Prodicus. Littie as this is, it is more than is known of 
the satires of Pacuvius, of which we only hear that they resembled those 
of Ennius. What was the precise relation bome by either to the later 
Roman satire with which we are so familiar can but be conjectured. 
Horace, who is foUowed as usual by Persius, ignores them both as 
satirists, and claims the patemity of satire for Lucilius, who, as he says, 
imitated the old Attic comedy, changing merely the measure ; nor does 
Quintilian mention them in the brief but celebrated passage in which he 
asserts the merit of the invention of satire to belong wholly to Rome. 
This silence may be taken as showing that neither Ennius nor Pacuvius 
gave any exclusive or decided prominence to that element of satire 
which in modem times has become its distinguishing characteristic — 
criticism on the men, manners, and things of the day; but it can 
scarcely impeach their credit as the first founders of a new and ori- 
ginal school of composition. That which constitutes the vaunted 
originality of Roman satire is not so much its substance as its form : 
the one had already existed in perfection at Athens, the elaboration 
of the other was reserved for the poetic art of Italy. It is certainly 
not a littie remarkable that the countrymen of Aristophanes and 
Menander should not have risen to the fuU conception of familiar 
compositions in verse in which the poet pours out desultory thoughts 
on contemporary subjects in his own person, relieved from the trammels 
which necessarily bind every dramatic production, however free and 
unbridled its spirit. That such a thing might easily have arisen among 
them is evident from the traditional fame of the Homeric Margites, itself 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xxv 

apparently combining one of the actual requisites of the Roman medley, 
the mixture of metres, with the biting invective of the later satire — a 
work which, when fixed at its latest date, must have been one of the 
concomitants, if not, as Aristotle thinks, the veritable parent, of the 
earlier comedy of Greece. In later times we find parallels to Roman 
satire in some of the idylls of Theocritus not only in those light dia- 
logues noticed by the critics, of which the Adoniazusae is the best 
instance, but in the poem entitled the Charites, where the poet com- 
plains of the general neglect into which his art has fallen in a strain 
of mingled pathos and sarcasm which may remind us of Juvenars 
appeal in behalf of men of letters, the unfortunate fratemity of authors. 
But Greece was not ordained to excel in everything ; and Rome had the 
opportunity of cultivating a virtually unbroken field of labour which was 
suited to her direct practical genius, and to her mastery over the arts of 
social life. There can be no question but that the conception of seizing 
the spirit of comedy — of the new comedy no less than the old — the 
comedy of manners as well as the comedy of scurrilous burlesque — ^and 
investing it with an easy undress clothing, the texture of which might 
be varied as the inward feeling changed, was a great advance in the 
progress of letters. It would seem to be a test of the lawful develop- 
ment of a new form of composition from an old, that the latter should be 
capable of including the earlier, as the larger includes the smaller. So 
in the development of the Shaksperian drama from the Greek the 
chorus is not lost either as a l^rrical or as an ethical element, but is 
diffused over the play, no longer seen indeed, but felt in the art which 
heightens the tone of the poetry, and brings out the moral relations of 
the characters into more prominent relief. So in that great development 
which transcends as it embraces all others, the development of prose 
from poetry, the superiority of the new form to tHe old as a general 
vehicle of expression is shown in the expansive fiexibility which can 
find measured and rhythmic utterance for the raptiwes of passion or 
imagination, yet give no undue elevation to the statement of the plainest 
matters of fact. And so it is in the generation of satire from comedy : 
the unwieldy framework of the drama is gone, but the dramatic power 
remains, and may be summoned up at any time at the pleasure of the 
poet, not only in the impalpable shape of remarks on human character, 
but in the fiesh-and-blood fulness of actual dialogue such as engrosses 
several of the satires of Horace, and enters as a tnore or less important 
ingredient into every one of those of Persius. Or, if we choose to 
regard satire, as we are fuUy warranted in doing, in its relation not 
only to the stage but to other kinds of poetry, we shall have equal 
reason to admire it for its elasticity, as being capable of rising without 



xxvi LECTURE ON THE 

any ungraceful effort from light ridicule to heightened earnestnes? — 
passing at once with Horace from a ludicrous description of a poet as 
a marked man, to an emphatic recognition of his essential greatness ; or 
with Juvenal from a sneer at the contemptible offerings with which the 
gods were commonly propitiated, to a sublime recital of the blessings 
which may lawfully be made objects of prayer. This plastic compre- 
hensiveness was realized by the earlier writers, as we have seen, by 
means of the variety of their metres, while the later were enabled to 
compass it more artistically by that skilful management of the hexa- 
meter which could not be brought to perfection in a day. But the 
conception appears to have been radically the same throughout; and 
the very name satura already contains a prophecy of the distinctive 
value of Roman satire as a point in the history of letters. 

If, however, the praise of having originated satire cannot be refused to 
Ennius, it must be confessed as freely that the influence exercised over 
it by Lucilius entitles him to be called its second father. It belongs to 
one by the ties of birth — to the other by those of adoption and edu- 
cation. Unlike Ennius, the glories of whose invention may well have 
paled before his fame as the Roman Homer and the Roman Euripides, 
Lucilius seems to have devoted himself whoUy to fostering the growth 
and forming the mind of the satiric muse. He is thought to have 
so far departed from the form of the old medley as to enforce a 
uniformity of metre in each separate satire, though even this is not 
certainly made out ; but he preserved the external variety by writing 
sometimes in hexameter, sometimes in iambics or trochaics, and also by 
a practice, seemingly peculiar to himself, of mixing Latin copiously with 
Greek, the language corresponding to French in the polite circles of 
Rome. It is evident, too, both from his numerous fragments and from 
the notices of the early grammarians, that he encouraged to a large 
extent the satiric tendency to diversity of subject — at one moment soaring 
on the wing of epic poetry and describing a council of the gods in 
language which Virgil has copied, the next satirizing the fashion of 
giving fine Greek names to articles of domestic fumiture, — compre- 
hending in the same satire a description of a joumey from Rome to 
Capua, and a series of strictures on his predecessors in poetry, whom 
he seems to have corrected like so many school-boys ; — now laying down 
the law about the niceties of grammar, showing how the second conju- 
gation is to be discriminated from the third, and the genitive singular 
from the nominative plural; and now talking, possibly within a few lines, 
of seizing an antagonist by the nose, dashing his fist in his face, and 
knocking out every tooth in his head. But his great achievement, as 
attested by the impression left on the minds of his Roman readers. 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xxvii 

was that of making satire henceforward synonymous with free speaking 
and personality — ^he comes before us as the reviver of the Fescennine 
licence, the imitator of Cratinus and Eupolis and Aristophanes. There 
seems to have been about him a reckless animal pugnacity, an exhi- 
larating consciousness of his powers as a good hater, which in its rude 
simplicity may remind us of Archilochus, and certainly is but faintly 
represented in the arch pleasantry of Horace, the concentrated intel- 
lectual scom of Persius, or the declamatory indignation of Juvenal. 
Living in a period of political excitement, he plunged eagerly into party 
quarrels. The companion of the younger Scipio and Laelius, though 
a mere boy, and himself of equestrian rank, he attacked great consular 
personages who had opposed his friends : as Horace phrases it, he tore 
away the veil from private life and arraigned high and low alike — showing 
no favour but to virtue and the virtuous — words generally found to bear 
a tolerably precise meaning in the vocabulary of politics. It was the 
satire of the republic, or rather of the old oligarchy, and it was impos- 
sible that it could live on unchanged into the times of the Empire, But 
the memory of its day of freedom was not forgotten : the ancient right of 
impeachment was claimed formally by men who intended no more than 
a common criminal information ; and each succeeding satirist sheltered 
himself ostentatiously under an example of which he knew better than to 
attempt to avail himself in practice. 

It was to Lucilius, as we have already seen, that Persius, if reliance is 
to be placed on the statement of his biographer, owed the impulse that 
made him a writer of satire. Of the actual work which is related to have 
produced so remarkable an effect on its young reader, the tenth book, 
scarcely anything has been preserved ; while the remains of the fourth, 
which is said to have been the model of Persius' third satire, com- 
paratively copious and interesting as they are, contains nothing which 
would enable us to judge for ourselves of the degree of resemblance. 
Hardly a single parallel from Lucilius is quoted by the Scholiasts on any 
part of Persius : but when we consider that the aggregate of their cita- 
tions from Homer, though much larger, is utterly inadequate to express 
the obligations which are everywhere obvious to the eye of a modem 
scholar, we cannot take their omissions as even a presumptive proof 
that what is not apparent does not exist. On the other hand, the 
Prologue to the Satires, in scazon iambics, is supposed, on the authority 
of an obscure passage in Petronius, to have had its prototype in a 
similar composition by Lucilius; and it is also a plausible conjecture 
that the first line of the first satire is taken bodily from the old poet — 
two distinct proclamations of adhesion at the very outset, in the ears 
of those who could not fail to understand them. There is reason, also. 



xxviii LECTURE ON THE 

for believing that the imitation may have extended further, and that 
Persius' strictures on the poets of his day, and in particular on those 
who affected a taste for archaisms, and professed to read the old Roman 
drama with delight, may have been studied after those irreverent criti- 
cisms of the fathers of poetry, some of which, as the Scholiasts on 
Horace inform us, occurred in this very tenth book of Lucilius. On 
the ethical side we should have been hardly prepared to expect much 
similarity : there is, however, a curious fragment of Lucilius, the longest 
of all that have come down to us, containing a simple recital of the 
various constituents of. virtue, the knowledge of duty no less than its 
practice, in itself sufiiciendy resembling the enumeration of the elements 
of morality which Persius makes on more than one occasion, and 
showing a tum for doctrinal exposition which was sure to be appre- 
ciated by a pupil of the Stoics. So there are not wanting indications 
that the bold metaphors and grotesque yet forcible imagery which stamp 
the character of Persius' style so markedly may have been encouraged 
if not suggested by hints in Lucilius, who was fond of tentative experi- 
ments in language, such as belong to the early stages of poetry, when 
the national taste is in a state of fusion. The admitted contrast 
between the two men, unlike in all but their equestrian descent, — 
between the premature man of the world and the young philosopher, 
the improvisatore who could throw off two hundred verses in an hour, 
and the student who wrote seldom and slowly, — ^may warrant us in 
doubting the success of the imitation, but does not discredit the facL 
Our point is, that Persius attempted to wear the toga of his predecessor, 
not that it fitted him. 

The influence of Horace upon Persius is a topic which has, in part, 
been anticipated already. It is a patent fact which may be safely 
assumed, and I have naturally been led to assume it as a help towards 
estimating other things which are not so easily ascertainable. Casaubon 
was, I believe, the first to bring it forward prominentiy into light in an 
appendix to his memorable edition of Persius ; and though one of the 
later commentators has endeavoured to call it in question, cautioning us 
against mistaking sKght coincidences for palpable imitations, I am con- 
fident that a careful and minute study of Persius, such as I have lately 
been engaged in, will be found only to produce a more complete con- 
viction of its truth : nor can I doubt that an equally careful perusal of 
Horace, line by line and word by word, would enable us to add still 
further to the amount of proof. Yet it is curious and instructive to 
observe that it is a point which, while established by a superabundance 
of the best possible evidence, that of ocular demonstration, is yet sin- 
gularly deficient in those minor elements of probability to which we are 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. ^xix 

constantly accustomed to look in the absence of anything more directly 
conclusive. The memoir of Persius mentions Lucilius, but says not a 
word of Horace : the quotations from Horace in the commentary of the 
pseudo-Comutus are, as I have said, far from numerous : while the 
diflference of the poets themselves, their personal history, their philo- 
sophical profession, their taste and temperament, the nature and power 
of their genius, is greater even than in the case of Persius and Lucilius, 
and is only more clearly brought out by the clearer knowledge we 
possess of each, in the possession of the whole of their respective 
works. The fact, however, is only too palpable — so much so that it 
puzzles us, as it were, by its very plainness: we could understand a 
less degree of imitation, but the correspondence which we actually see 
makes us, so to speak, half incredulous, and compels us to seek some 
account of it. It is not merely that we find the same topics in each, the 
same class of allusions and illustrations, or even the same thoughts and 
the same images, but the resemblance or identity extends to things which 
every poet, in virtue of his own peculiarities and those of his time, would 
naturally be expected to provide for himself. With him, as with Horace, 
a miser is a man who drinks vinegar for wine, and stints himself in the 
oil which he pours on his vegetables; while a contented man is one 
who acquiesces in the prosperity of people whose start in life is worse 
than his own. The prayer of the farmer is still that he may tum up a 
pot of money some day while he is ploughing : the poet's hope is still 
that his verses may be embalmed with cedar oil, his worst fear still that 
they may furnish wrapping for spices. Nay, where he mentions names 
they are apt to be the names of Horatian personages : his great physician 
is Craterus, his grasping rich man Nerius, his crabbed censor Bestius, 
his low reprobate Natta. Something is doubtiess due to the existence 
of what, to adopt a term applied by Colonel Mure to the Greek epic 
writers, we may call satirical commonplace, just as Horace himself is 
thought to have taken the name Nomentanus from Lucilius; or as, 
among our own satirists, Bishop Hall talks of Labeo, and Pope of 
Gorgonius. So Persius may have intended not so much to copy 
Horace as to quote him — ^advertising his readers, as it were, from time 
to time that he was using the language of satire. But the utmost that 
can be proved is, that he followed prodigally an example which had been 
set sparingly, not knowing or not remembering that satire is a kind of 
composition which of all others is kept alive not by antiquarian asso- 
ciations, but by contemporary interest — not by generalized convention- 
alities, but by direct individual portraiture. We can hardly doubt that a 
wider worldly knowledge would have led him to correct his error of 
judgment, though the history of English authors shows us, in at least one 



XXX LECTURE ON THE 

instance, that of Ben Jonson, that a man, not only of trae comic genius 
but of large experiences of life, may be so enslaved by acquired learning 
as to satirize vice and folly as he reads of it in his books, rather than as 
he sees it in society. 

But time wams me that I must leave the yet unfinished list of the 
influences which worked or may have worked upon Persius, and say a 
few words upon his actual merits as a writer. The tendency of what 
has been advanced hitherto has been to make us think of him as more 
passive than active — as a candidate more for our interest and our 
sympathy than for our admiration. But we must not forget that it 
is his own excellence that has made him a classic — ^that the great and 
true glory which, as Quintilian says, he gained by a single volume, has 
been due to that volume alone. If we would justify the award of his 
contemporaries and of posterity, we must be prepared to account for it. 
It was not, as we have seen, that he was an originating power in philo- 
sophy, or a many-sided observer of men and manners. He was a 
satirist, but he shows no knowledge of many of the ingredients which, 
as Juvenal righdy perceived, go to make up the satiric medley. He was 
what in modem parlance would be called a plagiarist — a charge which, 
later if not sooner, must have told fatally on an otherwise unsupported 
reputation. I might add that he is frequendy perplexed in arrangement 
and habitually obscure in meaning, were it not that some judges have 
professed to discover in this the secret of his fame. A traer appreciation 
will, I believe, be more likely to find it in the distinct and individual 
character of his writings, the power of mind and depth o^ feeling visible 
throughout, the austere purity of his moral tone, relieved by frequent 
outbreaks of genial humour, and the condensed vigour and graphic 
freshness of a style where elaborate art seems to be only nature 
triumphing over obstacles. Probably no writer ever borrowed so much 
and yet left on the mind so decided an impression of originality. His 
description of the wilful invalid and his medical friend in the third satire 
owes much of its colouring to Horace, yet the whole presentation is felt 
to be his own — ^trae, pointed, and suflScient. Even when the picture is 
entirely Horatian, like that of the over covetous man at his prayers, in 
the second satire, the effect is original still, though the very varieties 
which discriminate it may be referred to hints in other parts of Horace's 
own works. We may wish that he had painted from his own observation 
and knowledge, but we cannot deny that he has shown a painter's 
power. And where he draws the life that he must have known, not 
from the descriptions of a past age but from his own experience, his 
portraits have an imaginative trath, minutely accurate yet highly ideal, 
which would entitle them to a distinguished place in any poetical gallery^ 



LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PERSIUS. xxxi 

There is nothing in Horace or Juvenal more striking than the early part 
of the third satire, where the youthful idler is at first represented by a 
series of light touches, snoring in broad noon while the harvest is 
baking in the fields and the cattle reposing in the shade, then starting 
up and calling for his books only to quarrel with them — ^and afterwards 
as we go further the scene darkens, and we see the figure of the lost 
profligate blotting the background, and catch an intimation of yet more 
fearful punishments in store for those who will not be wamed in time — 
punishments dire as any that the oppressors of mankind have suffered or 
devised — the beholding of virtue in her beauty when too late, and the 
consciousness of a corroding secret which no other heart can share. 
Nor would it be easy to parallel the efFect of the sketches in the first 
satire, rapidly succeeding each other, — ^the holiday poet with his white 
dress and his onyx ring tuning his voice for recitation; a grey and 
bloated old man, giving himself up to cater for the itching ears of others; 
the jaded, worn company at the table, languidly rousing themselves in 
the hope of some new excitement ; the inferior guests at the bottom of 
the hall, ready to applaud when they have got the cue from their betters 
— all flung into a startling and ghasdy light by the recollection carefully 
presented to us that these men call themselves the sons of the old 
Romans, and recognize poetry as a divine thing, and acknowledge the 
object of criticism to be tnith. Again we see the same pictorial skill 
and reality, though in a very different style, toned down and sobered, in 
those most sweet and touching lines describing the poet's residence with 
his beloved teacher, when they used to study together through long 
simmier suns and seize on the first and best hours of the night for 
their social meal, each working while the other worked and resting 
while the other rested, and both looking forward to the modest enjoy- 
ment of the evening as the crown of a well-spent day. Persius' lan- 
guage has been censured for its harshness and exaggeration : but here, 
at any rate, he is as simple and unaflfected as an admirer of Horace or 
Virgil could desire. The contrast is instructive, and may perhaps 
suggest a more favourable view of those peculiarities of expression 
which are generally condemned. The style which his taste leads him 
to drop when he is not writing satire, is the style which his taste leads 
him to assume for satiric purposes. He feels that a clear, straight- 
forward, everyday manner of speech would not suit a subject over which 
the gods themselves might hesitate whether to laugh or to weep. He 
has to write the tragi-comedy of his day, and he writes it in a dialect 
where grandiose epic diction and philosophical terminology are strangely 
blended with the talk of the forum, the gymnasia, and the barber's 
shop. I suggest this consideration with the more confidence, as I find it 



xxxii LECTURE ON PERSIUS. 

represented to me and, as it were, forced on me by the example of a writer 
of om- own comitry, perhaps the most remarkable of the present time, 
who, though differing as widely from Persius in all his circmnstances as a 
world-wearied and desponding man of the nineteenth century can differ 
from an enthusiastic and inexperienced youth of the first, still appears to 
me to bear a singular resemblance to him in the whole character of his 
genius — I mean Mr. Carlyle. If Persius can take the benefit of this 
parallel, he may safely plead guilty to the charge of not having escaped 
the vice of his age, the passion for refining still further on Augustan 
refinements of expression and locking up the meaning of a sentence in 
epigrammatic aliusions, which in its measure lies at the door even of 
Tacitus. 

I have exhausted my time and, I fear, your patience also, when my 
subject is still far from exhausted. I am glad, however, to think that in 
closing I am not really bringing it to an end, but that some of my 
hearers to-day will accompany me to-morrow and on future days in the 
special study of one who, like all great authors, will surrender the full 
knowledge of his beauties only to those who ask it of him in detail. 



A. PERSri FLACCI 



SATURARUM 



LIBER 



B 



A. PERSII FLACCI 



SATURARUM 



LIBER 



PROLOGUS. 

Nec fbnte labra prolui caballino, 
nec in bicipiti somniasse Parnaso 



' My antecedents, I believe, were not 
poetical : if I appear at the feast of the 
poets, it is only on sufferance. After all, 
one can sing without inspiration : at least 
panots and magpies do/ 

The Prologue may be regarded in two 
aspects, both historical. It may be in- 
tended as a remnant of the old practice of 
writing the ScUura in a variety of metres. 
There is some reason to thiidc that it is 
actuafly an imitation <^ Lucilius, as one 
of the speakers in Petronias' Satjrricon, 
c. 4, sa^rs, apropos of the edacation of 
youth, * Sed ne me putes improbasse 
schedium Lucilianae improbitatis, quod 
sentio et ipse carmine effingam/ and then 
gires twenty-two verses, the first eight 
scazons, the rest hexameters. On the 
other hand, the introduction of a Pro- 
logue marks a late stage of poetical com- 
poiition. To prologuize implies conscious- 
ness — the poet reflecting on his work — 
so early poets do not prologuize at all — 



as Homer: afterwards the ezordium be- 
comes personal, and contains a prologue, 
as would be the case in the Aeneid, if the 
lines UU ego were goiuine : then the 
prologue is a separate poem, as here. 
Lastly, we have a prose introduction, as 
in Statius' Silvae, Ausonius, and modem 
writers — a more natural method, and in 
some respects more graceful, as separat- 
ing off matter which may be extraneous 
to the poem itsdf, but leading, on the 
other hand, to interminable and inde- 
terminate writing, to the substitution of 
criticism for poetry, precept for practice. 
Of modem English writers, Wordsworth 
is in one eztreme, Tennyson in the 
other. 

Here the Prologne is, of course, to aU 
the Satires — not, as some have thought, 
to the first only. He disclaims the hon- 
ours of poetry, not without sarcasm, and 
insinuates that much which professes to 
come from inspiration really has a more 



THE SATIRES 



OF 



A. PERSIUS FLACCUS 



PROLOGUE. 

I NEVER got my lips well drenched in the hack's spring — nor do 
I recoUect having had a dream on the two-forked Parnassus, so 



prosaic source— want of bread or love of 
money. There seems no notion of satire 
as a prosaic kind of writing, so that 
Casaubon and Jahn*s references to Horace 
(i Sat. 4. 39; 2. 6. 17) are scarcely ap- 
posite, ezcept as showing something of 
the same sort of modesty on the part of 
both. 

I. fons caballinus, a translation of 
Hippocrene. cahallinus sarcastic, like 
Gorgonei eaballi, also of Pegasus (Juv. 3. 
118), the term being contemptuous, 
though its derivatives in modern lan- 
guages have, as is well known, lost that 
shade of meaning. 

labra prolui. Virg. Ae. i. 743, of 
Bitias, ' pleno se proluit auro.' Hor. i S. 
5. 16 'prolutus vappa.' The action im- 
plies a deep draught, here taken by stoop- 
ing down to the spring. (Contrast the 
opposite ezpression, 'primoribus labris 
attingere.') * I never drank those long 
draughts of Hippocrene, of which others 



boast.' Here, as in the next verse, the 
image is doubtless borrowed from the 
Exordium of Ennius* Annals, as we may 
infer from Prop. 3. 2. (4.) 4 * Par- 
vaque tam magnis admoram fontibus ora 
Unde pater sitiens Ennius ante bibit.' 
Persius may have had his eye on two 
other passages of the same Elegy. See 
V. 3 * Bellerophontei qua fluit humor 
equi/ and v. 52 ' Ora Philetea nostra 
rigavit aqua/ and perhaps also on Hor. 
I £p. 3. 10 * Pindarici fontis qui non 
ezpalluit haustus, Fastidire lacus et rivos 
ausus apertos.* 

2. biceps, tilKo^t, a perpetual epi- 
thet of Parnassus. The mountain has 
not really two tops, but as the Castalian 
spring rises from between two ridges, it is 
said to have them (Urlichs and Miliin- 
gen, referred to by Jahn). Propertius, 1. c, 
represents himself as laying down to sleep 
under the shadow of Helicon. The source 
of both passages is again Ennius' account 



B 2 



PERSII 



mcmini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem. 
Heliconidasque pallidamque Pirenen 
illis remitto, quorum imagines lambunt 
hederae sequaces: ipse semipaganus 
ad sacra vatum carmen adfero nostrum. 
quis expedivit psittaco suum chaere 
picamque docuit nostra verba conari ? 
magister artis ingenique largitor 
venter, negatas artifex sequi voces; 
quod si dolosi spes refiilgeat nummi. 



lO 



3. Memim m* uL 



4. Adieofttadaaq: pyrenen. 
12. refulsmi. 



5. rdinquo. 



of himself, preserred to ns by Cic. Acad. 
pr. a. 16. 51, to the effect that he had 
gone to sleep on Pamassus, seen Homer 
in a dream, and heard that it was Ho- 
mer's spirit*which was then animating 
himself. Compare S. 6. 10, where En- 
nius' ' somnia Pythagorea ' are again ri- 
diculed. 

nec .. memini is a sneer at Ennius' 
own words (ap. Sosip. Charis. i. p. 75), 
* memini me fiere pavum/ said of Homer 
(Tert. de An. 24 sq., note on 6. 10). 
So Ov. M. 15. 160, * Ipse ego (nam me- 
mini) . . Euphorbus eram.' 

3. memini, humorous; *nerer that 
I can remember;' implying that Ennius 
must have had a good memoiy. 

ut repente, ' so as to come before 
the world all at once as a poet.' 

prodirem, ' to come forth from 
this preparatory process,' which is also 
expressed by *sic/ *on the strength of 
this ' (not like * sic temere,' as Casaubon 
and Jahn). ' A ready made poet, by the 
immediate agency of the gods.' Possibly 
Persius was thinking of Hor. i Ep. 19. 6 
' Enniils ipse pater nunquam nisi potus ad 
arma Prosiluit dicenda/ which might 
also warrant a conjecture that Ennius 
himself used some similar phrase. 

prodirem poeta, * prodis e judice 
turpis Dama ' Hor. 2 S. 7. 54. 

4. Heliconiadas better supported by 
MSS. than * Heliconidas.' Lucr. 3. 1037 
'Adde Heliconiadum comites.' The re- 
ference is perhaps to the opening of 
Hesiod's Theogony (Mov(r<W *EKi/cah 



ptiiZw 6pxf»ii^' dcidcti^), where Hesiod 
relates how the Muses made him a poet. 
The form 'Heliconis' is however found 
in Stat. Silv. 4. 4. 90, and MSS. are so 
untrustworthy in &e matter of proper 
names that the point may be doubtful. 
At any rate it is not worth while to scan 
' Heliconiadas ' here by synizesis, as Jahn 
wi^es, following Schneider, as proper 
names have a metrical licence even in 
tragic iambics. 

pallidam, as causing studious pale- 
ness. ' pallentis grana cumini ' 5. 55 ; 
perhaps with some reference to Horace's 
* expalluit haustus/ quoted on y. i. 

Pirene, mentioned from its connec- 
tion with Pegasus, who was said to haye 
been broken in there. Statius (Theb. 4. 
60) follows or coins a story that it was 
produced, like Hippocrene, by a stroke of 
Pegasus* hoof. 

5. ' To the poets, whose ivy-crowned 
bnsts adom our public libraries.* Hor. i 
S. 4. ai. For the ivy, see Hor. i Od. i. 
29. Juvenal appareutly imitates this 
passage (7. 29) 'ut dignus venias hederis 
et imagine macra.' 

No sneer seems to be intended in 
lambunt or sequaces, which are simply 
poetical. 

6. semipaganus is rightly explained 
by Jahn after Rigalt with referehce to 
the Paganalia, a festival celebrated by 
members of the same pagus. Dion. Hal. 
4. 15 ; Sicul. Flacc. de Cond. Agr. p. 35. 
This has more spirit than the ordinary 
interpretation, * half a rustic,' and agrees 



PROLOGUS. 



S 



as to burst upon the world at once as a full-blown poet. The 
daughters of Helicon and that cadaverous Pirene I leave to the 
gendemen whose busts are caressed by the climbiDg ivy— as for 
me, it is but as a poor half-brother of the guild that I bring my 
verses to the festival of the worshipful poets' company. Who was 
it made the parrot so glib with its * Good morning/ and taught 
magpies to attempt the feat ot talking like men? That great 
teacher of art and bestower of mother-wit the stomach, which has 
a knack of getting at speech when nature refuses it. Only let a 
bright glimpse of flattering money dawn on their horizon, and you 



witb the image in the nezt Hne. Com- 
pouuds with semi^ generally mean ^only 
half/ not * cU least half/ 

8. Persius does not say that he writes for 
bread, which would have been too obvi- 
ously untrue, as he was a wealthy man, 
but hints it in order to ridicule his con- 
temporaries by affecting to classify himself 
with them. 

expedivit, *made easy.' Comp. 
our use of impediment. 

suum not foreign (Jahn), as the 
parrot did uot come from Greece, but 
simply * its own * — * that cry which it is 
now so ready with.' So there is no op- 
position between x^P^ ^<^^ * f^ostra verba/ 
as if the magpie were intended to talk 
Latin as distinguished from Greek. The . 
parrot talks Greek as the fashionable 
language for small talk, as now a days he 
might talk French, while *nostra verba' 
means human speech. The antithesis is 
merely one of those which a man might 
use almost without intending it, between 
language viewed as belonging to its origi- 
nal owner and as afterwards appropriated 
— just as the parrot speaks *expedite/ 
while the magpie * conatur/ though it is 
not meant that the former succeeds more 
perfectly than the latter. For the prac- 
tice of keeping parrots and magpiei 
in great houses, see Martial, refened to 
above. After v. 8 a few MSS. have a line, 

* Corvos quis olim concavum salutare?' 
where *concavum* would doubtless refer 
to the sound, though one MS. gives 
' Caesarem,' as in the first passage of 
Martial. 

chaere (xP^P*)* Mart. 14. 73. a 

* Caesar ave ;' hence the pie is said * sa- 
lutare/ ib. 76. i. 

10. Jahn refers to Theocr. ai. i 
d vwla, Li6<pa»rt, fiSva rcls rij^yat 



kytlp€i, Plaut. Stich. i. 3. 33 * paupertas 
omnes artes perdocet.' Comp. also Hor. 
l Ep. 5. 18 of wine, * addocet artes ;' Virg. 
G. I. 145 * Tum variae venere artes: 
labor omnia vicit Improbus, et duris ur- 
gens in rebus egestas' (quoted by Plau- 
tius). 

ingeni largitor. Plautius and 
Casaubon quote Manil. i. a6 * £t labor 
ingenium miseris dedit.' Jahn refers to 
Cicero*s account of * ingenium,' Fin. 5. 13. 
36 *Prioris generis (virtutum quae ingc- 
nerantur suapte natura) est docilitas, 
memoria, quae fere omnia appellantur 
uno ingeni nomine.' * Ingeni largitor,' 
then, is a kind of oxymoron. 

11. venter as in Hom. Od. 17. a86 
foll. yaaTipa 8* oOwm iaraf dwoKpfSiffai 
fie/Muuiv. 

negatas .. voces. Casaubon quotes 
Manil. 5. 377 * Quinetiam linguas ho- 
minum sensusque docebit Aerias volucres 
.... Verbaque praecipiet naturae legc 
negata.* 

artifex sequi, like *ponere lucum 
Artifices' 1.-70, •skilled to attain,* not, 
as Casaubon explains, * making them 
follow.' 

sequi, then, is rhetorically put for 

* assequi * or * consequi,' perhaps to cx- 
press difficulty. 

voces, 'words.' 

12. d o I o s i , a general epithet of money, 
though with a special application here — 

• beguiling them to the effort.' It might 
be almost said to refcr to * spes * as well 
as to * nummi.' 

refulgeat, *flash on the sight.' 
Virg. Ae. i. 402, 588 ; 6. 304. * Refulsit 
certa spes liberorum parentibus ' Vell. a. 
103 (Freund), * non tibi divitiae velut 
maximum generis humani bonum refiilse- 
runt ' Sen. Cons. ad Helv. 16. (Jahn.) 



SATURA I. 



O cuRAS hominum ! O quantum est in rebus inane ! 

«Quis leget haec?' Min' tu istud ais? nemo hercule! ^Nemo?' 

Vel duo, vel nemo. «Turpe et miserabile!' Quare? 

ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem 

praetulerint ? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma 5 



I. bominum qMantum. 

An aitaek on the corruptions o/ lite- 
rature, tu symptomatie o/ corruption in 
morals, intended as introductory to tbe 
Satires, as would seem /rom the latter 
part. He is disgusfed vntb tbe taste o/ 
bis day^ and would bave bis readers mind 
/ormed on tbe old models. 

Tbe/orm is tbat o/a dialogue, more or 
less regularly sustained, between Persius 
and a /riend, wbo leetures bim very much 
as Tr^Mtius does Horace. Notbing can be 
deeided about tbe time o/tbe composition 
o/tbis ScUire/rom its subject, Tbe mention 
o/ Pedius, i/ it proves anytbing, only 
proves tbat passage to bave been written 
late. Tbe connection between intellectual 
and moral vigour would nalurally be 
suggested by 3>e Stoie doctrine {Sat. 5), 
d>at virtue consists in eorrect knowUdge. 
Witb tbe wboh Satire comp. Sen. Ep. 
114. 

l-ia. P. •Vanity of vanitics!' F. 
You will get no readers if you write like 
tbat. P. * I want none— cvcry one at 
Rome, prince and people, is — ^may I say 
what?' F. Certainly noL P. * But I 
must have my laugh somebow.' 

I. Pinzser conjectures that this line is 
from Lucilius, on the strength of a notice 
in the Schol., who says that ▼. 2 is taken 
from Lucilius, and may have confounded 



4. Nee mibL 

the numbers. There would certainly be 
more potnt in supposing that Persius be- 
gins by pitching his yoice in Lucilius' 
key and is interrupted. On the other 
hand in rebus inane is found in Lucr. 

I. .^30. 383. 5^1» 5<59. 655. 660, 743, 
843 ; 5. 365 (most of them quoted by 
Jalm), with reference to the Epicurean 
theory; and it is at least as likely that 
Persius was aUuding to this. ' How great 
a vacuum (human) nature admits ! ' 

a. The friend says, Qnis leget haec? 
as Hor. i S. 4. aa complains of finding no 
readers. Persius saysMin' tu istud ais? 
apparently ezpressing surprise at the ad- 
dress Nemo hercule ! *Readers? I 
want nooe.' (Jahn. Others give * Nemo 
hercule ' to the friend, ' Nemo ' to P.) 

3. Persius repeats his disdaimer, 'One or 
two, which is as good as none.' Casau- 
bon refers to the Oreek phrases, 1j dkiyoi 
4 oOMe and Ij ris 4 oddc^t. * A most 
lame and impotent conclusion to it all,* 
retums the firiend. « Why ? ' asks P. 

4. ne connects the sentence not with 
* turpe et miserabile/ but with something 
similar implied by * Quare.' ' For fear 
that Polydamas/ etc. *Nae,* which 
Heinr. prefers, with some of the old 
commentators, would destroy the sense, 
the ironical assertion showing that he 



SATIRE I. 



' O THE vanity of hnman cares 1 O what a huge vacuum man's 
nature admits I ' 

Whom do you expect to read you? 

* Was your question meant for me ? Nobody, I assure you.* 
Nobody ? 

* Well — one or two at most ? ' 

A most ignominious and pitiable catastrophe. 

* Why ? are you afraid that Polydamas and the Trojan iadies 
will be setting their own dear Labeo above me ? Stuff 1 If that 
muddle-headed Rome does make light of a thing, don't you be 



doubted the fact, and *ne praetulerint/ 
* suppose they were not to prefer,' would 
be equally inappropriate here, though 
idiomatic. For * Polydamas/ two MSS. 
have •Pulydamas/ representing Homer's 
IlovXvSdfiaf. The reference is to U. 22. 
100, 105, the former of which is quoted 
by Aristot. Eth. 3. 8, and both of them 
more than once by Cicero (Ep. Att. a. 
5. I ; 7. I. 4; 8. 16. 2), who applies thc 
name *PoIydamas' to Cato, and also to 
Atticus himself. Here the expression is 
particularly pointed ; * Polydamas and the 
Trojan ladies * of course stand for the 
bugbears of respectability, the influential 
classes of Rome : the pride of the Ro- 
mans as * Troiugenae ' is glanced at (Juv. 
I. 100; 8. 181; II. 96), while the 
women are dwelt on rather than the men, 
'Axat^cs, fAtKir* *Axaio(: and to crown 
all, there is an allusion to Accius Labeo 
as the author of a translation of the 
Iliad, of which the Schol. has preserved 
one line, * Crudum manduces Priamum 
Priamique pisinnos ' (U. 4. 35)» as if he 



had said, *Lest Labeo's interest with 
Polydamas and the Trojan ladies should 
get them to prefer him to me.' The 
story perhaps only rests on a statement 
by Fulgentius (see Jahn), but the internal 
evidence is very strong, and it is much 
more probable than the tupposition that 
* Labeo ' is merely used as a Horatian 
synonym for a madman. (Hor. i S. 3. 
83), to which Jahn indines, Prolegomena, 
PP* 72» 73* "^^ scholiast's notion that 
Nero is meant by Polydamas is as absurd 
as his derivation iro\i$« SdfMp^ *id est, 
multinuba.' 

5. nugae. *Nugas' is used similarly 
as an exclamation in Plaut. Most. 5. i. 
31, Pers. 4. 7. 8. 

non for * ne.' Hor. 2 S. 5. 91, 
l Ep. 18. 72, A. P. 460, and in post- 
Augustan prose, though blamed as a 
solecism by Quintilian (Freund). 

turbida, *muddled,* like Aeschylus* 
6fifM t^wiiivov (Supp. 394\ in keeping 
with the metaphor which follows from 
weighing in a balance. 



lO 



PERSII 



elevet, accedas examenque improbum in illa 
castiges trutina, nec te quaesiveris extra. 
nam Romae quis non — ? a^ si fias dicere — sed fias 
tum, cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere triste 
aspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis, 
cum sapimus patruosj tunc tunc — ^ignoscite, noloj 
quid feciam? sed sum petulanti splene cachinno. 
Scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, hic pede liber^ 
grande aliquid, quod pulmo animae praelargus anhelet. 
scilicet hacc populo pexusque tc^aque recenti 



lO 



15 



6. examenue (7 post n superscr.) 



8. Romae est quis Hae si. 



6. elevet, * makes light of/ suggest- 
ing the metaphor of a balance. 

examen, 5. loi. 

improbum, 'unfair/ ' not telling 
truth.' Not unlike is ' merces improbae/ 
Plaut. Rud. 2, 4. 43. 

7. The construction is ' Ncm accedas 
castigesque, nec quaesiveris extra te/ ' Nor 
ask any opinion but your own.' 

8. Most MSS. insert * est ' before ' quis 
non/ the transcribers not seeing that Persius 
here breaks off what he afterwards com- 
pletes in v. 121. The stolidity of Rome 
is treated as a secret, like the ass*s ears of 
Midas, and kept till the end of the Satire, 
when it breaks out. 

a, si fas, fonr MSS. aud two 
others from a correction, most of the 
others ' ac,* a few ' at * or * et/ none of 
which would be equally appropriate. ' If 
I might only say it — ^but I feel I tnay, 
when — .'* 

9. canitiem. The reproach of old 
age runs through the Satire, w. 22, 36, 
56 ; an unhonoured old age, prodaced 
partly by luxury (v. 56), partly by use- 
less sedentary pursuits (here and v. a6), 
and instead of teaching wisdom, employ- 
ing itself with corrupting the taste of 
youth (v. 79), and aping youthful senti- 
mentalism. 

nostrum istud vivere triste. 
The austerity of afiected morality, such 
as is lashed by Juvenal (S. a), dreary 
fretting over study, and genuine peevish- 
ness. Persius is very fond of the use of 
the inf. as a regular subst. * scire tuum ' 
v. 37 ; *ridere meum ' v. laa ; 'pappare 
minutum' 3. 17; * mammae lallare ' 16.18 ; 



' velle suum ' 5- 53 ; ' sapere nostrum ' 
6.38. 

10. aspicere ad, an archaism, used 
by Pacuvius and Plautus (Freund). 

nucibus .. reIictis=:Horace's *ab- 
iectis nugis* (a £p. a. 141). Catull. 61. 
131 ' Da nuces pueris, inors Concubine : 
satis diu Lusisti nucibus.' Hor. a S. 3. 
171 'talos nncesque.' Suet. Aug. 83 
' talis aut ocellatis nucibusque ludebat 
ciim pueris minutis/ Comp. the poem 
' de Nuce,' also 3. 50. 

II. cum, rderring to ' nucibus re- 
lictis,' not in appositlon to *cum' pre- 
ceding. 

sapimus may have a double sense. 
The Romans probably acknowledged no 
such sharp distinction between the differ- 
ent meanings of the same word as we do, 
being less conscious and criticaL * Sapere' 
with acc. of the flavour or of the thing 
about which one is wise is common 
enough, and here * patruos,' though a 
person, is equivalent to a thing, so that 
we may compare such expressions as ' Cy- 
clopa moveri.* 

patruos, 'patruae verbera linguae' 
Hor. 3 Od. la. 3 ' ne sis patruus mihi ' 
a S. 3. 88. 

nolo is said by the friend, ' I won't 
admit the excuse,' * tunc tunc ignoscite ' 
being only another way of saying * fas est 
tunc' 

la. quid faciam, etc, imitated from 
Hor. 2 S. I. a^, who asks the same 
question, and appeals similarly to his 
temperament and tastes. Laughter was 
attributed to the spleen by the andent 
physiologists. Pliny ll. 80 * Sunt qui 



SAT. I. 



II 



walking up and correcting the lying tongue in that balance of 
theirs, or asking any opinion but your own — for who is there at 
Rome that has not — if I might only say it ! But surely I may, 
when I look at these gray hairs of ours, and this dreary way of 
living ; and, in short, all our actions from the time of flinging our 
toys aside, when we take the tone of undes and guardians. Yes, 
you must excuse me, thm* 

No, I won't. 

* What am I to do ? but I am constitutionally a great laugher, 
with a saucy spleen of my own.' 

' We shut ourselves up and write, one verse, and another prose, 
all in the grand style to be panted forth by the lungs with a vast 
expenditure of breath. Yes — you hope to read this out some day, 



putent adimi simul rismn homini, intem- 
perantiamque eius constare lienis magnitu- 
dine/ Serenus Samonicus 430 * Splen tumi- 
dus nocet, et risum tamen addit ineptum/ 

petulantes et petulci appellantur 
qui protervo impetu ct crebro petunt 
laedendi alterius gratia' Fest. p. 306. 
ed. Miill. (Freund). 

cachinno, according to the Schol. 
a noun, like *gIuto' 5. II 2, *paIpo' 16. 
176. Lucilius appears to have been fond 
©f words of this kind, possibly as being in 
use among the common people, as * lurco,' 
•comedo' Fr. 4. 9, *corabibo* 26. 60, 
*mando' Inc. 8(^ catillo* 4. 4 Dous. 
Hermann, foUowing Heindorf, makes 

* cachinno * a verb, taking • ignoscite . . 
splene ' as a parenthesis — * Excuse me, 
I am sorry to do it, but I cannot help my 
spleen ;' but this would be awkward : 
and though ' cachinno,' as a noun is 
found nowhere else, the evidence of thc 
Schol. is enough to show that its exist- 
ence was not thought impossible at the 
time when Latin was still a living lan- 
guage. 

13-23. The attack begins. P. «A 
composition is produced with intense 
labour. It is then recited in public by 
the author, dressed in holiday attire, with 
the most effeminate intonation; and the 
descendants of Romulus are tickled, and 
feel their passions excited. Shame that an 
old man like that should' so disgrace 
himselfl' 

13. The form of the verse was pos- 
sibly suggested by Hor. a £p. i. 117 

* Scribimus indocti,' etc. 

13. inclusi points the satire — 'aman 
shuts himself up for days and days, and 



this is the upshot.' Jahn compares Ov. 
Trist. I. I. 41 * Carmina secessum scri- 
bentis et otia quaerunt.' Juv. 7. 27 

* Qui facis in parva sublimia carmina 
cella.' Markland ingeniously but need- 
lessly conjectures ' inclusus numeris ille/ 

pede liber opposed to *numeros,' 
apparently ** * soluta oratio,' as no kind of 
verse could be well contrasted with 

* numeri,' even Pindar's' dithyrambics 
being * numeri lege soluti.' The stress, 
however, is laid throughout the Satire on 
poetical recitations, as in Juv. S. i and 7 ; 
and rhetoric is merely introduced (v. 87) 
with reference to the courts of law. * Pede 
libcr * = * pede libero.' 

14. grande aliquid, in apposition 
to * numeros ' and to the notion con- 
tained in ' pede liber.' * Rcs grandes ' 
V. 68, * Giande locuturi '5.7. * Grandis ' 
sccms to have been a cant term at Rome 
in Persius' time. Sen. Comp. 5. 10 * Tu 
neque anhclanti, coquitur dum massa 
camino, FoIIe premis ventos.' Heinr. 
quotes Cic. de Orat. 3. 1 1 * Nolo verba 
exiliter animata cxire, nolo inilata et 
anbelata gravius.' 

quod pulmo, etc. * for the purpose 
of mouthing it.' Jahn, in his text of 
1868, adopts * quo' from Montp. 

praelargus, a rare word. *Largus 
animae' occurs Stat. Theb. 3. 603 for 
prodigal of life, perhaps firom Hor. I Od. 
12. 37 ' animaeque magnae prodigum.' 

15. haec, emphatic. ' TT)i8 is what 
is to be delivered with pompous ac- 
companiments and with cfFeminate arti- 
culation.' Compare a. 15 * baec sancte 
ut poscas.' 

populo, ' a public recitation.' 



12 



PERSII 



et natalicia tandem cum sardonyche albus 

sede leges celsa, liquido cum plasmate guttur 

mobile coUueris, patranti fractus ocello. 

hic neque more probo videas nec voce serena 

ingentis trepidare Titos, cum carmina lumbum 

intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu. 

tun, vetule, auriculis alienis coUigis escas? 

auriculis, quibus et dicas cute perditus ohe. 

«Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fcrmentum et quae semel intus 

innata est rupto iecore exierit caprificus? 

en pallor seniumque!* O mores! usque adeone 



20 



25 



17. Ugetu, 



34. Quid tUtUcuse, 



* Ventosa plehis sufiragia ' Hor. i £p. 18, 
37 * laetam cum fecit Statint whtm. . . 
tantaque libidine wdgi Auditur* Juv. 7. 
83. 5. Horace dsewhere has * popuU suf- 
firagia' (3 Ep. 2. 103). 

1 5. pexus. ' Ille pexus pinguisque doc- 
tor' Quint. i. 5. 14, or perhaps»* pexis 
vestibus.' Hor. i £p. i. 95 * pexae 
tunicae.' 

16. The Schol. doubts whether the 
ring is called natalicia as a birthday 
present, or as wom on birthda^rs. Casau- 
bon,who remarks, *utro modo accipias pili 
non interest unius/ quotes Plaut. Curc. 5. 
2. 56 ' Hic est [anulus] quem ego tibi 
misi natali die ;' Hor. 2 S. 2. 60 ' Ule 
repotia, nataUs^ aliosve dierum Festos 
aWaius celebret/ which Persius seems 
to have had in view, supports the latter. 
Compare Juv. i. 38 * aeftivum aurum/ 
7. 89 * semestri auro.' Rings worn 
on occasiont of public display. Juv. 7. 
140 sqq. 

tandem, * at last, when the ** expec- 
tata dies " has come.' 

sardonyche. * Primus autem Ro- 
manorum sardonyche usus est Africanus 
prior . . et inde Romanis gemmae huius 
auctoritas* Plin. H. N. 37. 33 (6), § 85, 
quoted by Mayor on Juv. 7' ^44 

aibus, obviouslys*albatus/ Hor. Lc. 
The notion of paleness, though adopted 
by Heinr., is here quite out of place. 

17. leges .. collueris is probably 
the true reading, though all MSS. but two, 
one of the iith century, have 'legens,* 



and a conside rable majority * colluerit.' 
Jahn remarks that the and and ^rd per- 
sons are frequently interchanged in the 
MSS. of Persius. If ' legens ' and * coUu- 
erit' be adopted, a conoma must be put 
after * ocello.' 

sede celsa, ' ex cathedr&/ like a 
lecturer. Heinr. refers to Wyttenbach on 
Plut. l, p. 375, for a similar description 
of the Greek rhetoricians. 

liquido .. plasmate, * modulation.' 
Gr. irXdrTccF <pwriv, *Sit antem impri- 
mis lectio virilis . . . non in canticum 
dissoluta, nec plasmaie, ut nune a ple- 
ri^ue fit^ effeminata ' Quint. l. 8. 2, 
quoted by Jahn, who compares ' liquido ' 
with * eUquat,' v. 35. Othenvise we 
might bave foDowed the ordinary inter- 
pretation of a * gargle,' as such a custom 
was undoubtedly in use on these occa- 
sions. 

18. collueris explained by 'liquido,' 
the modulation having, as it were, the 
efiect of rinsing the throat. 

fractus » * dissolutus.' Here ' frac- 
tus ocello* seems to be a translation 
of KKa1iap6fXfiaro9. The Greeks also 
talked of KfKkaafiiyrf ^ponrfi. Compare 
too OpvwTtaSau. * Fragilis ' is similarly 
used of effeminacy, Hor. i S. 8. 39. The 
meaning of 'patranti' is doubted, but 
we shalT probably be right in rendering it 
' wanton.' 

19. hic is probably ' hereupon,' as ia 
V. 33, where see note, though Konig ex- 
plains it ' illo loco ubi recitatur.' 



SAT. I. 



13 



got tip spnicely with a new toga, all in white with your birthday 
ring on at last, perched up on a high seat, after gargling your 
supple throat by a liquid process of tuning, with a languishing 
roll of your wanton eye. At this you may see great brawny sons 
of Rome all in a quiver, losing all decency of gesture and com- 
mand of voice, as the strains glide into their very bones, and the 
marrow within is tickled by the ripple of the measure. What ! 
an old man like you to become caterer for other men's ears — ears 
to which you will be fain to cry Emugh at last when bursting 
yourself ? ' 

What is the good of past study, unless this leaven — unless the 
wild fig-tree which has once struck its root into the breast break 
through and come out? 

' So much for pale looks and austerityl Alas for our national 



19. probns s * pudicus/ with which it 
was constantly coupled. * Saltare ele- 
gantius quam necesse est prchae* Sall. 
Cat. 25. 

serena »* composita.' 

20. ingentis .. Titos, like * celsi 
Rhamnes ' Hor. A. P. 343, only that ' in- 
gentes' refers to the phynecd size of these 
sons of old Rome (like * ingens Fulfen- 
nius ' 5. 190, * torosa iuventus ' 3. 86, 

* caloni alto ' 5. 95), to show the mon- 
strousness of the effeminacy to which 
they are surrendering themselves. 

trepidare like * exsultat/ v. 82, 
they cannot keep their posture. Virgirs 

* stare locp nescit.' 

21. tremulo seems to express the 
movement of the line. 

22. vetule, note on v. 9. *Do you 
lend yourself to pampering the ears 
of others?' Casaubon compares the 
Greek phrases tvwx^^ ^^^ kffri&aM 
dKo&y, 

23. * When. after all, you are sure to 
be tired before they are satisfied.' 

cute perdituss*cute perdita,' like 
*pede liber'«*pede libero.* It is vari- 
ously explained. The Schol. gives a 
choice — * emaciated by midnight study * — 
*pale with old age' — and *so diseased as to 
show it even extemally.' The early com- 
mentators seem divided between the two 
first, several of them quoting JuvenaFs 

* deformem pro cute pellem.' Casaubon, fol- 
lowed by Jahn, understands it as dropsical, 
though he thinks it may denote cuta- 
neous disease. Konig accepts neither view, 
but supposes the point intended to be ina- 



bility to blush, however produced. Heinr. 
thinks it refers to the parched skin of 
high fever. May it mean, * You will 
at least have to cry Hold when you 
burst?' 

23. ohe. Hor. i S. 5. 12 ; 2. 5. 96, 
in which latter passage the first syllable 
is short. 

24-27. F. *What is the good of 
study, unless a man brings out what he 
has in him ? ' P. * Hear the student I 
as if knowledge did no good to the 
possessor unless he were known to pos- 
sess it ! ' 

24. Quo is read by a few MSS. Most 
of the others have ' quid,* which seems to 
make no sense. * Quo tibi, Tilli, Sumere 
depositum clavum fierique tribuno ? ' Hor. 
I S. 6. 24. 

25. iecore seems to mean little more 
than the breast (like 'fibra,' v. 47; 5. 29). 
In 5. 129 it probably denotes the liver as 
the seat of passion, as in Hor. i Od. 

13- 4- 

caprificus. *Ad quae Discutienda 

valent sterilis mala robora fici * Juv. 10. 

145. The harshness of the expression is 

probably Persius' own, not an attempt to 

ridicule the style he condemns. 

26. pallor, of study, v. 124; 3. 85; 
5.<52. 

senium. Hor. i Ep. 18. 47 *in- 
humanae senium depone Camenae.' 
Whether it refers here to actual old age 
or to moroseness may be doubted. Comp. 
note on v. 9. The latter is Horace's 
sense. 'Here is the true student cha- 
racter for you I ' 



14 



PERSII 



scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter? 

^At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier hic estl 

cen' cirratorum centum dictata fuisse 

pro nihilo pendas?* Ecce inter pocula quaerunt 

Romulidae saturi, quid dia poemata narrent. 

hic aliquis, cui circa umcros hyacinthia laena est, 

rancidulum quiddam balba de nare locutus, 

Phyllidas Hypsipylas, vatum et plorabile si quid, 

eliquat ac tenero subplantat verba palato. 

adsensere viri : nunc non cinis ille poetae 



30 



35 



36. Attmsere (duo fortasse Terba). 



a6. O mores ! Ctcero's famous excla- 
mation (Cat. 1. 1. s ; Verr. 4. 25. 56). 

usque adeone.. ' Usque adeone 
mori misenim est?' Virg. Ae. 12. 646. 

* Usque adeo nihil est ' Juv. 3. 84. 

27. The Schol. quotes from Ludlius, 

* Ut me scire volo dicimus mihi consdus 
sum, Ne damnum fadam. Sdre hoc se 
nescit, nisi alios id scire sderit ;* cor- 
rupt words, which have been differently 
emended; see Jahn, p. 254. Snet. Ner. 20 
says that Nero was fond of using a Greek 
proverb (T^t Xia»$o»o6<nj9 tuvau^t od- 
dcis A^ot Gdl. 13. 30. 3), ' occultae 
musicae nullum esse respectum,' as a 
reason for ezhibiting his musical talents 
in public. 

28-43. F* ' Bu^ ^c reputation 1 You 
may be *' canonized as a dassic ** by the 
aristocracy.' P. 'To be sure: tbey talk 
poetry after dinner ; an exquisite gets up 
and drawls out a poem : the illustrious 
audience applauds, and there is posthu- 
mous fame for you.' F. *Snarl as you 
wiU, there is something in writing a poem 
that the world will not let die.* 

28. ' Quod monstror digito praeter- 
euntium' Hor. 4 Od. 3. 22. So toKTv- 
\oheiKTtiv, 

dicier an archaism, like * fallier,' 

3- 50. 

hic est refers to the story of De- 
mosthenes' elation at hearing a poor 
woman say O&rot kKtlvot, Juv. i. 161 
imitates Persius. 

29. Hor. I £p. 20. 17 gives the con- 
temptuous side of the picture, ' Hoc quo- 
que te manet ut pueros elementa docenteni 



Occupet eztremis in vicis balba senectus.* 
(Comp. Juv. 7. 226.) Persitts takes not 
only higher schools but higher lessons, 
'dictata' bdng passages from the poets 
read out by the master (for want of books) 
and repeated by the boys. ' Sic iterat 
Toces, et voba cadentia tollit, Ut puerum 
saevo credas dictata magistro Reddere' Hor. 
I Ep. 18. 12. In I S. 10. 74, Horace asks 

* An tua demens Vilibus in ludis dictari 
carmina malis?' as if such popnlarity 
were an actual evU, aud proved that the 
poet had not sought to please the few. 
Statius thinks differently, saying trium- 
phantly of his Thebaid (Theb. 12. ^15) 
' Itala iam studio discit memoratque io- 
ventns.' 

29. cirratorum apparently denotes no 
more than ' pueromm.' Jahn cites Mart. 
9. 29. 7 ' Matutini cirraia caterva ma- 
gistri,' and mentions that in the repre- 
sentation of a school at Pompdi the boys 
wear their hair long. But the descriptiye 
epithet naturally points to boys of the 
better classes. 

30. Ecce introduces a narrative in 
the heroic style. 

inter pocula. * Inter vina ' 3. 
100, ' inter scyphos ' Cic. Fam. 7. 32, 
'media inter pocula' Juv. 8. 218; ' ia 
poculis' is used similzrly Cic. Sen. 14: 
' during drinking,' * over the wine,' rather 
than * in the intervals of drinking.' Per> 
sius probably mistakes Hor. 2 S. 2. 4 

* Discite, non inttr lances mensasque ni- 
tentes,' as the thing satirized is the 
wretched dilettante conception of litera- 
ture as an accompaniment to a dining- 



SAT. I. 



15 



character ! Is this knowing of yours so utterly of no account, un- 
less some one else know that you are knowing?' 

But it is a fine thing for men to point one out and say, * There 
he goes I ' Do you mean to say that you don't care to become 
the dictation-lesson of one hundred curly-headed urchins ? 

' Listen. The sons of Rome are sitting after a full meal and 
enquiring in their cups, What news from the divine world of 
poesy? Hereupon a personage with a hyacinth-coloured mantle 
over his shoulders brings out some mawkish trash or other with 
a snuffle and a lisp, something about Phyllises or Hypsipyles, 
or any of the many heroines over whom poets have snivelled, 
filtering out his tones, and tripping up the words against the roof 
of his delicate mouth. The heroes have expressed approval — now 



table; and so in the next line, 'saturi' 
is strongly contrasted with Horace's 

* impransi disquirite.* 

31. Romulidae, like * Titi/ v. ao. 
quid .. narrent, a phrase, *What is 
the news? * Plaut. Pers. 4. 3. 29 * quid 
istaec tabellae narrant ? ' * What news 
from the divine world of poetry ? ' refer- 
ring probably to the snbject-matter of 
the poems — * "^hat are they about ? ' 

* What have they to tell us ? * Nebris- 
sensis rightly ezplains * quid dicant et 
contineant.' The rest of the commen- 
tators and the Schol. apparently take 
' dia poemata ' as the acc. after ' narrent' 
= * recitent.* 

33. hic, 'hereupon/ * extremely sel- 
dom/ says Freund, referring to Ter. And. 
3. 3. 15, Virg. Ae. l. 728 ; but in Virgil, 
at any rate, it is not unfrequent : see 
Ae. 2. 123, 533; 3. 369, etc. * Hic ali- 
quis* occurs again, 3. 77. The use of 
^e ' laena ' for the ' toga * was a mark of 
luxury. ' Coccina laena * Juv. 3. 283. 
Jahn. So of Aeneas, Virg. Ae. 4. 263 

* Tyrio ardebat murice laena Demissa ex 
humeris.' Robes of the colour of the 
' suave rubens hyacinthus ' are mentioned 
by Athenaeus 13, p. 535 D. Jahn. 

33. rancidulum. ' Rancide ficta 
verba* Gell. 18. 11. 3, like • putidus/ 

* mawkish.' The diminution, of course, 
heightens the contempt. 

balba de nare, ' lisping and snuf- 
fling.* The former at least implies an 
affectation of tenderness. *Cum balba 
feris annoto verba palato * Hor. 2 S. 3. 
274, which Persius had in view, as ap- 



pears from v. 35. 

34. Phyllidas, plural indicative of 
contempt. Jipvaritlw fitiXiyfM r^v {fw* 
*IKUp Aesch. Ag. Sentimental subjects 
from mythology, such as those celebrated 
by Ovid in his Heroides. 

vatum et plorabile si quid. 
Casaubon and Jahn compareClaud.Eutrop. 
I. 361 ' verbisque sonat plorabile quiddam 
Ultra nequitiam fractis.' These accusa- 
tives are constructed with 'locutus,' not 
with ' eliquat.' 

35. eliquat, 'strains* or 'filters.* 
A natural extension of the metaphor 
which calls a voice * liquid.' Comp. * col- 
luerit' V. 18. Heinr. and Jahn. compare 
Apul. Flor. p. 351 Elm. ' Canticum videtur 
ore tereti semihiantibus in conatu labellis 
eliquare.* 

subplantat. A word from wrestling 
or running, translated from Greek (nro- 
<rie€\l{w, as would seem from Non. 36. 2 

* Supplantare dictum est pedem suppo- 
nere : Lucilius, supplantare aiunt Graeci,' 
so that Persius must have had Lucilius in 
his view. ' Trips up his words,* i. e. 
minces them. Comp. Horace, referred to 
on V. 33. 

36. adsensere viri is in the heroic 
strain, like Juvenal, 'consedere duces' 
7. 115. Jahn compares Virg. Ae. 3. 130 

* adsensere omnes ' Ov. M. 9. 359 ; 14. 
593 ' adsensere dei.' For the effect of 
praise after death on the bones of the 
deceased, comp. Virg. E. 10. 33 ' O mihi 
tum quam molliter ossa quiescant, Vestra 
meos olim si fistula dicat amores 1 ' (quoted 
also by Casaubon.) 



i6 



PERSII 



felix? non levior cippus nunc inprimit ossa? 
laudant convivae: nunc non e manibus iliis, 
nunc non e tumulo fbrtunataque favilla 
nascentur violae? ^Rides' ait ^et nimis uncis 
naribus indulges. an erit qui velle recuset 
os populi meruisse et cedro digna locutus 
linquere nec scombros metuentia carmina nec tus?' 
Quisquis es, o, modo quem ex adverso dicere feci, 
non ego cum scribo, si fbrte quid aptius exit, 
quando haec rara avis est, si quid tamen aptius exit, 
laudari metuam, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est; 
sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso 
euge tuum et belle. nam belle hoc excute totum : 



40 



45 



41. indtdgtas. 



44. fas tsi in margin. 



37. cippns, *a pillar/ Hor. i S. 8. 
la. The formula S. T. T. L. ('sit tibi 
terra levis') was frequently cngrayed on 
tfae pillar. 

38. conviyae, as in Hor. i S. 10. 80, 
I Ep. 13. 15 ; Juy. 7. 74 ; 9. 10, most of 
which Jahn comparcs ; the inferior guests 
distinguished from *yiri«' the great men 
who sit with the giver of the feast. We 
must suppose a large entertainment, at 
which there is a recitation, not of the 
patron's verses, but of those of some de- 
ceased poet whom he admires. ' Laudant* 
may be meant to be stronger than * assen- 
sere,' as the humbler sort would be less 
measured in their approbation. 

manibus. Jahn compares Prop. 3. 
4. 15 (3. 13. 33) * Detnde ubi suppositus 
einerem me fecerit ardor, Accipiat matm 
parvula testa meos/ and the ose of ' cine- 
ribus' in inscriptions as synonymous witfa 

* Dis manibus.' So also Virg. Ae. 4. 34 

* Id cinerem aut manes credis curare 
sepultos ? ' 

39. fortunata favillaa-^felix cinis.' 
This line is omitted by one MS. and 
Servius, who quotes the passage on Virg. 
Ae. 3. 63 ; but the repetition is rather 
forcibie than otherwise. 

40. Konig refers to a Greek ejngram 
(apud Murat. 540) &K>! ta icai ffdfofrvxot 
KcU vSarlvrj vdpKiffffo», 06c/)3cc, icai wtpi 
aov ft6»Ta yiyoiro fidScu The friend 



interrupts, telling Persias that this is mere 
buffoonery, which leaves the reason of 
the case untouched. 

40. Rides, ait is irom Hor. i £p. 

19- 43- 

nimis with 'indulges.* * Uncis na- 

ribus ' is Horace's ' naso adunco/ * na- 

ribus' being probably osed to give an 

additional notion of fostidioDsness, like 

' acutis naribos ' Hor. i S. 3. sp, whore 

Bentley suspects ' aduncis,' thongh * acutis ' 

is evidentiy opposed to another expression 

of Horace, ' naris obesae.' ' Naribus uti ' 

Hor. I £p. 19. 45. 

41. velle recuset. 'Recusem minui 
senio * 6. 15. Jahn. ' Will yon find any 
man to disclaim the desire of deservedly 
becoming a household word?' 

42. 'In ore esse' or 'in ora venire»' 
' abire,' etc. was a phrase : comp. ' volito 
vivus per ora virum ' Enn. ap. Cic. Tusc. 
>• 15* 34> imitated by Virg. G. 3. 9. 
' Romana brevi venturus in ora' Hor. i Ep. 
3. 9. For the use of the perf. inf. 
Jahn comp. w. 91, 132 ; 2. 66 ; 4. 7, 17 ; 

6- 33 ; 6. 3. 15. 77- 

cedro, ' cedar oil.' ' Linenda cedro ' 

Hor. A. P. 331. Persius probably imi- 

tated Virg. Ae. 6. 662 ' Phoebo digna 

locuti.* 

43. scombros, 'mackerel,' is an 
image borrowed from Catull. 95. 7 
' Volusi annales Paduam morientur ad 



SAT. I. 



17 



is not the poet happy in his grave ? Now does not the stone press 
on his bones more lightly? The humbler guests foUow with their 
applause — now will not a crop of violets spring up from those 
remains of his — from the sod of his tomb, and from the ashes 
so highly blest?' 

Ah, you are laughing (says he) and letting your nostrils curl 
more than they should. Will you ever find a bard who will dis- 
own the wish to eam a place in the mouths of men, to deliver 
utterances worthy of cedar oil, and leave behind him poems which 
need not fear the contact of mackerel or spices ? 

* Whoever you are, my imaginary opponent, I am not the man, 
if in writing I chance to hatch anjrthing good — for that is a phoenix 
indeed — but if 1 do hatch anything good, I am not the man to 
shrink from praise — no — my heartstrings are not of hom. But I 
utterly deny that the be-all and end-all of excellence is your Bravo 



ipsnm, £t lazas scombris saepe dabunt 
tunicas/ as *tus' is from Hor. 3 £. i, 
269 ' Deferar in Ticimi vendentem tus et 
odores £t piper et quidquid chartis ami^ 
citur ineptis.' 

44-62. Persius. *I quite adniit the 
yalue of honest praise weli deserved. I 
should not be human if I did not feel it ; 
but I protest against measuring excellence 
by this fashionable standard of yours — 
a standard which accommodates itself to 
trash like Labeo's and all the mawkish 
stuff which great folks write when they 
ought to be digesting their dinners. The 
praise given in your circles is not dis- 
interested — it is simply payment for 
patronage recdved. You are not blessed 
with the eyes of Janus — so you will need 
pains to discriminate between what is 
said to your face and what is said behind 
your back.' 

44. Persius is disputing not with any 
definite antagonist, but with the spirit of 
the age, as Passow and Jahn remark. 

modo, *just now/ referring espe- 
cially to v. 40, and generally to the whole 
preceding part. 

45. exit probably has a double reference 
— to a vessel tumed out by the potter, as 
Hor. A. P. 22 * urceus exit,' and to a bird 
hatched from an egg, PUn. 10. 16. 18 
* exit de ovo a cauda/ as * rara avis ' 
seems to show. 

46. quando used as *since' only in 
poetry and post-Aug. prose. Freund. 

rara avis seemingly a proverbial 
expression, imitated by Juv. 6. 165. 



Jerome adv. Jovin. t i. 4. a, p. 190 Ben. 
(Jahn). * A black swan ' Juv. I. c. ; * a 
white crow ' 16. 7. 200. 

47. cornea is applied by Pliny (31. 
9. 45) as an epithet to the bodies of 
fishermen ; but this metaphorical use of 
the word appears to be Persius' own. 
Heinr. and Jahn refer to Sidon. Apoll. 
Epp. 4. I ; 8. II. The Stoics, as Cas- 
aubon shows, did not altogether exclude 
fame from consideration, but regarded it 
as one of the dSicuf>6pa which were 
vpoijyftiva : they however differed among 
themselves as to whether it was desirable 
for its own sake or for any advantage 
which it might bring. Chrysippus taking 
the latter view. 

fibra, 5. 29. 

48. finem extremumque, ' the 
standard and limit.' Jahn comp. Cic. 
Fin. 2. 2. 5 * Nam hunc ipsum sive Jinem, 
sive extremum, sive ultimum definiebas id 
esse quo omnia, quae recte iierent, refer- 
rentur.* 

recusare, with an object-clause not 
common. * Maxime vero quaestum esse 
immani vitae pretio recusabant ' Plin. 29. 
1,8. 

49. euge tuum et belle. Like 
* suum x«V* * P'<^^' ^' Hor. A. P. 428, 
a passage which Persius had in view, 
makes the 'derisor' exclaim *Pulcre, 
bene, recte.' 

excute, 5. 22 *£xcutienda damus 
praecordia.' Met. from shaking out the 
folds of a robe. * £xcutedum pallium ' 
Plaut. Aul. 4. 4. 19. 



i8 



PERSII 



quid non intus habet? non hic est Ilias Atti 

ebria veratro? non si qua elegidia crudi 

dictarunt proceres? non quidquid denique lectis 

scribitur in citreis ? calidum scis ponere sumen, 

scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacemaj 

et ^verum* inquis ^amo: verum mihi dicite de me/ 

qui pote ? vis dicam ? nugaris^ cum tibi^ calve, 

pinguis aqualiculus protenso sesquipede extet. 

o lane, a tei^ quem nulla ciconia pinsit, 

nec manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas, 

nec linguae, quantum sitiat canis Apula, tantum! 



$o 



55 



60 



57. propemto. 



59. imitata esi. 



60. tanta£. 



50. * What rnbbish does tt not contain?' 
' What b there not room for in it ? 
' Acci Labeonis/ v. 4 note. 

51. veratmm was the Latin name 
for hellebore. 'Nobis veratrum est acre 
vcnenum ' Lucr. 4. 640. Hellebore was 
taken, according to Pliny (35. 5. ai), 
not ovly to cure madness, bat to clear 
the heads of students. Thus it will sati- 
rize the artifidal helps used for study, as 
well as the madness which requires deep 
and intozicating draughts of hellebore to 
cure it. 

elegidia, a contemptuous diminu- 
tive. • Exiguos elegos ' Hor. A. P. 77. 
Comp. Juv. 1.4. 

crudi. *Crudi tomidique lavemur' 
Hor. I £. 6. 61. 

53. Jahn comp. Hor. a £. i. 109 
* pueri patresque severi Fronde comas 
vincti cenant et carmina dictant.' 

53. For writing in a recumbent pos- 
ture, comp. Prop. 3. 4. 14 * Scriniaque ad 
lecti dausa iacere pedes.' Augustus re- 
tired after supper to his ' lecticula lucubra- 
toria ' Suet. Aug. 78. The rich man in 
Juvenal (3. 341) reads or writes in his 
litter. 

citreis. Citron wood, used for 
couches here, as for tables Cic. Verr. 

4- 37- 

ponere. 3. iii * positum est al- 

gente catino Durum olus,' 6. 33 'rhom- 
bos libertis ponere lautus. Imitated from 
Hor. A. P. 433 *unctum recte qui ponere 



possit,' the thought in the two passages 
being the same. 

53. sumen. * Vulva nil pulcrius ampla * 
Hor. I £. 15. 41. Comp. Juv. ii. 138. 
For the custom of entertaining clients 
that they might applaud their hosfs 
poetry, comp. Hor. i £. 19. 37 ' Noa 
ego ventosae plebis sufingia venor 
ImpensU eenarum et tritae muture 
vestis,* 

54. Hor. 1. c. Juvenal (1.93) imitates 
this passage *horrenti tunicam non red- 
dere servo/ though with a different mean- 
iug, as he is thinking of a ma8ter's duty 
to dothe his slaves. 

comitem, as in Juv. i. 46. 119, etc. 
horridulum, dimin. expressing in- 
feriority. 

55. Casaubon comp. Plaut. Most. 
I. 3. 34, where a girl questions her wait- 
ittgmaid about her beauty, saying, '£go 
verum amo, verum volo did mihi, men- 
dacem odi.' Jahn comp. Mart. 8. ^6 
* Dic verum mihi, Marce, dic amabo : 
Nil est quod magis audiam libenter . . . 
Vero verius ergo, quid sit, audi : Verum, 
Gallice, non libenter audis.' 

dicite, Jahn, from the majority of 
MSS., instead of * didto.' The host 
seems to be addressing his dependents 
eH masse, 

56. qui pote, supply probably *sunt 
verum dicere.' * Pote ' seems rather an 
abbreviated form of *potis,' which is 
itself of all genders and both numbers. 



SAT. I. 



19 



and Exquisite — for just sift this Exquisite to the bottom, and 
what do you not find there? Is there not Accius' Iliad dead- 
drunk with hellebore ? Are there not all the sweet little love poems 
ever dictated by persons of quality after their meals — in a word, 
all the verse that is produced on couches of citron? You know 
how to serve up a sow's paunch smoking hot — you know how to 
present a poor shivering dependant with a cast-ofF cloak — and 
you say, " Tnjth is my idol — pray tell me Truth about myself." 
Truth — how can you expect to hear it? Well, will you have it, 
then ? You 're a twaddler, you old baldpate, with your bloated 
stomach projecting a good half yard before you. O lucky Janus, 
never to have a stork's bill pecking at you behind — or a hand 
that can imitate by its motion a donkey's white ears, or a length of 
tongue protruded like an Apulian dog*s in the dog-days ! But you, 



than a neuter, as is shown by such pas- 
sages as Prop. 3. 5. 25 * £t mater non 
justa piae dare debita terrae, Nec pote 
cognatos inter humare rogos.' ' s ' is eli- 
ded before a consonant, and *i' conse- 
quently becomes *e,* as the final *i* in 
Latin would not be short. So * magis ' 
and ' mage.' 

56. nugari is used elsewhere, as inHor. 
2 £. 1 . 93, for graceful trifling in art and 
literature; here it has the force of the 
bitterest contempt — * You are a wretched 
dilettante.* 

calve, note on v 9. 

57. aqualiculus is used by Sen. £p. 
90. 22 for the ventricle or ulterior sto- 
mach — ^*Cibus cum pervenit in ventrem, 
aqualiculi fervore coquitur/ The trans- 
ference to the exterior stomach or paunch 
is probably Persius* own. The schol. and 
Isidorus (Orig. il. i) say that it is pro- 
perly a pig's stomach. 

propenso is the reading of almost 
all the MSS., but * protenso,' which Heinr. 
adopts, is found in Montep., and in an 
imitation by Jcrome (adv. Jov. 2. t. 4. 2, 
p. 214 Ben.). *protento' would be 
the more usual form. The sentiment 
is the same as that of the Greek proverb, 
quoted by Pithoiis, iraxcra yfurr^p ktVTbv 
ov rlKTd vo6vy probably with the addi- 
tional notion that the would-be poet is a 
bloated debauchee, * pinguis vitiis albus- 
que' (Hor. 2 S. 2. 21). 

58. These three ways of making game 
of a person behind his back appear to be 
mentioned nowhere else, except in an 
imitation by Jerome, though the second. 



the imitation of an ass*8 ear, is still com- 
mon in Italy. 

58. ciconia. Thefingers seem, accord- 
to the schol., to have been tapped against 
the lower part of the hand, so as to imi- 
tate the appearance and the sound of a 
stork's bill. Jerome, however (£. 4. t. 4, 
2. p. 776 Ben.) has * ciconiarum depre- 
hendes post te colla curvari.' 

pinsit is ezplained by the schol., 
(who makes it the perf. of a supposed 

* pindo,') * assidue percussit.' Whether it 
denotes sinaply the effect of the mockery, 
like * vellicare/ or anything in the manner 
of it, is not clear. Plaut. Merc. 2. 3. 81 
has * pinsere flagro.' 

59. imitari mobilis, like * artifex 
sequi' Prol. II. Most MSS. have * imi- 
tata est.' 

albas distinguishes the ears as be- 
longing to an ass. Ov. Met. 11. 174 
says of the transformatioa of Midas, 

* Delius aures .... villisque albentibus 
implet Instabilesque illas facit, et dat 
posse moveri,' which Persius may have 
thought of, comp. v. 121, (Nebr.), and 
the choice of the epithet is quite in the 
manner of Persius, so that we need not 
embrace the reading of one MS. * altas.' 

60. sitiat, where a prose wriler would 
have said * sitiens protendat.' Britannicus 
says, * deest cuniy ut sit eum sitiet.* 

The drought of Apulia is a familiar 
image from Hor. £pod. 3. 16 * siticulosae 
Apuliae.' 

Jahn reads tantae with some of the 
best MSS. ; but * tantum,' which is sup- 
ported by most copies, is much neater. 



C Q, 



20 



PERSII 



vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est 
occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae ! 

Quis populi sermo est? quis enim, nisi carmina molli 
nunc demum numero fluere, ut per leve severos 
efiundat iunctura unguis? scit tendere versum 
non secus ac si oculo rubricam derigat uno. 
sive opus in mores, in luxum, in prandia regun^ 
dicere, res grandis nostro dat Musa poetae. 
ecce modo heroas sensus adferre videmus 
nugari solitos graece, nec ponere lucum 
artifices nec rus saturum laudare, ubi corbes 



65. unges. 



69. doeemus. 



71. roa saluntm. 



and 'tantae' may hare been introduced, 
carelessly or intentionally, in order to 
agree with Minguae.' 

61. Hor. A. P. 391 ' Vos, O Pompi- 
lius sanguis.' * Whom Providence has 
ordained to live.' 

62. Sall. Jug. 107 calls the back * nu- 
dum et caecum corpus.' 

posticus generaily used of a 
building. 

occurrite, ' tum round and face.' 
sanna, 5. 91. Gr. it&Kot or iivierri' 
pi<Tfi6$. *Sannio' is a character in Te- 
rence, ' a buffoon.' The general sense is 
equivalent to Hor. A. P. 436 * si carmina 
condes, Nunquam te fallant animi sub 
▼ulpe latentes.' 

63-68. Persius resumes his description 
— *What is the opinion of the public?' 
asks the patron. * Oh I they say, we bave 
got a poet at last, able to write smoothly, 
and equal to any kind of composition.' 

63. The rich man addresses his de- 
pendants, as in v. 55. 

populi» note on v. 15. 

enim, used in an answer to a ques- 
tion. Plaut. Paen. 4. 3. 33 * Quomodo ? 
Ut enim, ubi mihi vapulandum est, tu 
corium sufFeras.' •Wlwt? Why, what 
should it be, but.' 

64. nunc demum, * now at last, 
the coming poet bas come.' 

numero is the sing., like * in nume< 
rum * Lucr. 2. 630. * Arma gravi numero 
violentaque bella parabam Edere ' Ov. 
I Am. I. r. 

per leve, imitated irom Hor. 2 S. 



7. 86 * teres atque rotundus, Extemi ne 
quid valeat per leve morari.' The image 
is that of a poUshed surface which the 
nail could run along without being stop- 
ped. Whether the image is the same in 
Horace's * factus ad unguem' (i S. 5. 33), 
'castigavit ad unguem ' (A.P. 294), is not 
clear. Jahn in Sie latter passage would 
derive it * from a workman moulding 
images in wax or clay (comp. Juv. 7. 237, 
Pers. 5. 39), quoting from Plut. Symp. 
Qu. 2. p. 636 Sror Iv Smfxi & vrjXds 
yirfjTm, Orelli on Hor. I S. 5. 32 
quotes Columella 2. 12, 13 * materiam 
dolace ad unguem,' and Apuleius Flor. 23 
' lapis ad unguem coaequatus.' We need 
not think of any ' iunctura ' as actually 
existing in the thing to which the verses 
are compared. Persius ftierely says that 
the verses are tumed out so smooth, that 
there is no break or sense of transition 
from one foot to another. 

65. effundat, stronger than * sinat 
periabi.' 

tendere refers to the length and 
completeness of the verse. ' He can 
make his verses as straight as a mason's 
line.' 

66. The mason shuts one eye to 
make sure of getting the line straight. 
Konig comp. Ludan. Icaromenipp. 14 
Iirc2 /mU robt riKTovo» woXXditis loapa- 
Kivrn fJUH ioKca 9ar4p^ r&v d^oKfiww 
dfMirov •wp^ roin itay&ra» dw€v$Tu¥oyra» 
rd ^i;Aa. The * rubrica ' or ruddled cord 
was stretched along the wood or stone, 
jerked in the middle, and let go. 



SAT. L 



21 



my aristocratic friends, whom Nature has ordained to live with no 
eyes behind you, turn round and face this back-stairs gibing. 

* What does the town say ? ' What shauld it say — but that now 
at last we have verses which flow in smooth measure, so that the 
critical nail runs glibly along even where the parts join. He can 
make a long straight line, just as if he were ruling it with a 
ruddle cord, with one eye shut. Whatever the subject — the cha- 
racter of the age, its luxurious habits, the banquets of the great, 
the Muse is sure to inspire our poet with the grand style. 

Yes — lo and behold I we now see heroic sentiments heralded forth 
by men who used merely to dabble in Greek, not artists enough to 
describe a grove or to eulogise the plenty of a country life, with all 
its details, baskets, and a turf-fire, and pigs, and the smoking hay on 



67. * He is equally great too in 
satire/ 

sive in the sense of * vel si * withottt 
* si * preceding. See Freund in v. * In * 
with the * acc' may mean simply * upon;' 
bttt the expressions ' in mores/ ' in luxum' 
scem to show it means ' against.' To 
describe the rich poet as a satirist himself 
gives the finishing touch to the picture. 

mores, v. 26. 

prandia regum, *then will be the 
feasts of the great, * reges' having a pecu- 
liar signification in the mouth of depend- 
ants, as in Hor. i £. 7. 37; 17, 43; 
A. P. 434; Juv. 1. 136 ; 5. 161 ; 8. 161. 
(Hor. 2 S. 2. 44 ' epulis regum.') * Public 
entertainments given by the great * were 
common at Rome, and called * prandia,* 
Suet. Jul. 38 ; Tib. 20, and possibly these 
may be referred to as a further stroke of 
irony. 

68. res grandess*grandia.' *Bene 
mirae eritis res' v. iii. 'grandis' ex- 
presses the literary quality, which is the 
great object of ambition : see on v. 14. 

69-82. Persius drops his irony, and 
talks in his own person. * Every kind of 
compositionl Yes, we now see heroics 
written by men who cannot compose a 
simple rural piece without introducing 
some heterogeneous jumble. Then there 
is the mania for archaisms — ihe afiecta- 
tion of stndying the old poets — as if any- 
thing but corrupt taste and relaxed mo- 
rality would be the result I ' 

69. modo, apparently referring to time 

just past, and so nearly==* nunc' * Modo 

dolores meatu occipiunt' Ter. Ad. 3. i. 2, 

where Donatus says, * Evidenter hic modo 

temporis praesentis adverbium est.' 



69. heroas, used as anadjective. * He- 
roas manus' Prop. 2. i. 18 (Jahn). 

sensus, * thoughts ' or * sentiments.' 

* Communes sensus ' is used by Tac. Or. 
31 for *common places.' An antithesis 
is intended between 'heroas sensus' and 

* nugari.' 

adferre probably in the sense of 

* bringing ncws.' • Attulerunt quieta om- 
nia apud Gallos esse ' Livy 6. 31. Comp. 
•narrent' v. 31. For •videmus' some 
copies have ' docemus/ which Casaubon 
and Heinr. adopt, supposing that Persius 
is speaking of the compositions of boys at 
school ; but there seems no reason to be- 
lieve that education is referred to before 
V. 79. 

70. nugari, v. 56 note. * Who used 
to confine themselves to dilettante efibrts 
in Greek.' Hor. i S. 10. 31 tells us how 
he once tried composing in Greek. 

ponere artifices, like ' artifex 
sequi' Prol. II. 

ponere. Prop. 2. 2. 52 *Hic do- 
minam exemplo poncU in arte meam/ 
and Paley's note. * Sollers nunc hominem 
ponere^ nunc deum ' Hor. 4 Od. 8. 8, 
which perhaps Persius imitated. 

lucum is one of the commonplaces 
instanced by Hor. A. P. 16, who evi- 
dently intends a description of scenery, 
not, as Juv. i. 7, a mythological picturc. 

71. saturum, * fertile.' * 5a/ttri petito 
longinque Tarenti * Virg. G. 2. 197. 

laudare, *to eulogize.' Hor. i Od. 
7. I * Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon aut 
Mitylenen.' 

corbes, part of the farm fumiture 
— baskets for gathering fruits. Cato R. R. 
136. Varro. R. R. i. 50. i (Freund). 



22 



PERSII 



et fbcus et porci et fumosa Palilia faeno, 
unde Remus, sulcoque terens dentalia, Quinti, 
cum trepida ante boves dictatorem induit uxor 
et tua aratra domum lictor tulit — euge poeta! 
est nunc Brisaei quem venosus liber Acci, 
sunt quos Pacuviusque et verrucosa moretur 
Antiopa, aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta. 
hos pueris monitus patres infiindere lippos 
cum videas, quaerisne^ unde haec sartago loquendi 

74. quem — diciatorem. 



75 



80 



Since Wordsworth, there would be nothing 
incongruous in introducing these details 
-(except perhaps the pigs) into a poem of 
country life; but though he may have 
done service in breaking down the rule of 
conventional description, it does not fol- 
low that poets in Persius' time were justi- 
fied in o^nding against the taste of their 
day, as in them it probably argued a 
want of perception of any kind of pro- 
priety in writing, whether great or smaU. 

73. focus. Casaubon refers to Virg. 
E* 5. 69., 7. 49., to which add G. 3. 539. 
We may observe that, in £. 7. 49, the 
only piace where ^itting round the fire is 
dwelt oTi, Virgil iinplicitly condemns the 
choice of the subject by putting it into the 
mouth of Thyrsis, in contrast to Corydon*s 
description of summer and out-door life. 

fumosa Palilia faeno. Compare 
Prop. 4. 4., 73-78 • Urbi festus erat : 
dixere Palilia patres : Hic primus coepit 
moenibus esse dies : Annua pastorum 
convivia, lusus in urbe, Cum pagana 
madent fercula ddiciis, Cumque super 
raros faeni flatntnantis aeervos Traiicit 
imntundos ebria turba pedes* 

73. Thc poet appears to have intro- 
duced a reference to the rural glories of 
Roman history. Remus is introduced 
partly on account of the ' Palilia/ which 
were on the anniversary of the foundation 
of Rome (Prop. I. c), partly as having 
himself led a country life, * Hanc olim 
veteres vitam coluere Sabini, Hanc Remus 
et frater * Virg. G. 3. 533. This seems 
better than to understand *unde' *after 
these antecedents he comes to write of 
Remus.* 

sulcoque terens dentalia. Per- 
haps imitated from Virg. Ae. 6. 844» * vel 
te sulco, Serrane, serentem.' Compare also 



G. I. 46 * sidco aitritus splendcscere 
vomer.* 

73. dentalia, • share-bcams.' G. 1. 172 
note. 

For thc story of L. Quintius Cin- 
dnnatus, see Livy 3. 36. For the change 
from the third person to the second, 
comp. Virg. Ae. 7. 684 * quos dives Ana- 
guia pascit, Quos, Amasene pater.' 

74. cum .. dictatorem induit 
the best MSS. ; and so Jahn, in his edition 
of 1843 : * Quem . . dictaturam/ a number 
of copies of less wdght : * Quem . . dicta- 
tura/ and * cum dictaturam* are also found. 
Jahn, in his text of 1868, reads, * Quem 
.. dictatorem.' Casaubon remarks that 
*cum* is better.than *quem/ as fixing 
the time of the investitnre, in connexion 
with * terens.' 

75. The contrast is heightened by 
making the lictor act as a farm-servant. 
Persius hurries over the particulars, so as 
to increase the impression of incongruity, 
and winds up with the * euge ' which the 
poet expected. 

76. est . . quem . . sunt quos. Com- 
pare Hor. 3 £p. 3. 183 * Sunt qui non 
habeant, «s/ qui non curat habere.' Acdus, 
not Labeo, but the old tragedian (coufrfed 
with Pacuvius by Hor. 2 £p. i. 55 
' aufert Pacuvius docti famam senis, 
Acdus alti,' and by Mart. ii. 91. 6 
* Attonitusque legis terrai frugiferu, Ac- 
dus et quicquid Pacuviusque vomunt') 
is called * Brisaeus ' from * Briseus,' a name 
of Bacchus, Macrob. Sat. 1. 18, probably 
with reference to the Dionysiac begin- 
nings of tragedy, so that the notion in- 
tended would be * antiquated,' and also 
perhaps to remind us of Horace's theory 
(i £p. 19) that all the old poets were 
wine driiJcers. 



SAT. I. 



23 



Pales' holiday — out of all which comes Remus, and thou, Quin- 
tius, wearing thy ploughshare bright in the furrow, when in hot 
haste thy wife clothed thee dictator in presence of the oxen, and 
the lictor had to drive the plough home — Bravo, poet I 

I know a man who hangs over that shrivelled volume of the 
old Bacchanal Accius. Nay, I know more than one who cannot 
tear themselves from Pacuvius and his Antiope, the lady with the 
warts, whose dolorific heart is stayed on tribulation. When these 
are the lessons which you see purblind papas pouring into their 
children's ears, can you ask how men come to get this hubble- 



76. Briseis, a conjecture of Scoppa, 
approved by Casaubon, is foiind in one 
MSS., but though ' Briseis ' would go weH 
with *Antiopa/ there is no reason for 
supposing that the former was eyer 
a subject of tragedy, whether Greek or 
Roman. 

venosus again implies old age. 
The flesh shrunk and the veins conse- 
quently standing out. Heinr. and Jahn 
compare Tac. Or. ai (speaking of Asi- 
nius Pollio) * Pacuvium certe et Accium 
non solum tragoediis, sed etiam orationi- 
bus ezpressit : adeo durus et siccus est. 
Oratio autem, sicut. corpus hominis, ea 
demum pulcra est, in qua non eminent 
venae, nec ossa numerantur, sed tempe- 
ratus ac bonus sanguis implet membra 
et exsurgit toris, ipsosque nervos rubor 
tegit et <iecor coomiendat.' 

liber, of a play. Quint. I. lo. 18 

* Aristophanes quoque non uno libro de- 
monstrat/ Prop. 4 (3). ai. 28 'Libro- 
rumque tuos, docte Menandre, sales.' 
Jahn. 

77. verrucosa, * warty/ opposed to 
a smooth clear skln, and hence rugged. 
The epithet being accommodated to the 
heroine, who was confined in a loathsome 
dungeon, as *venosus' was to the author. 

* Verrucosus * was a nickame of Q^ Fabius 
Maximus Cunctator. Freund. 

moretur. Hor. A. P. 321 *FabuIa 
. . . Valdius oblectat populum meliusque 
moratur.* 

78. Antiopa, imitated from a lost 
play of Euripides (Ribbeck, Fr. Lat. Tr. 
pp. 278 sq. Cic. Fin. 1. a asks, * Quis 
Ennii Medeam et Pacuvii Antiopam con- 
temnet et reiiciat ? * In Pacuv. Fr. 5 (9). 
ed. Ribbeck, she . is described as ' perdita 
igluvie atque insomnia.' Compare also 
Prop. 3 (4). 15. la foll., where the 
sufferings oif Antiope are related at some 
length. 



78. Words seemingly taken or adapted 
from the tragedy itself. *Aerumna is, 
for the most part, only anteclass., ezcept 
in Cicero, who uses it several times in 
order to designate by one word the many 
modifications and shadings of the con- 
dition of mental sufiering.' Freund. 
' Moeror est aegritudo flebilis : aerumna 
aegritudo laboriosa : dolor aegritudo cru- 
cians ' Cic. Tusc. 4. 8. 18. It was ob- 
solete in the time of Quintilian, who 
ezplains it by Mabor.* 

luctificabile is another archaism, 
like * monstrificabile ' in Lucil. ap. Non. 
138. 26. 

fulta, pressed on all sides, and so 
apparently supported. Compare Prop. i. 
8. 7 * Tu pedibus teneris positas fulcire 
pruinas ? ' where nothing more than 
treading on is meant; and the use of 
ipflSoj, as in Aesch. Ag. 64 ySparot 
Koviaiffiy IpctSo/i^vov, which Statius seems 
to have translated (Theb. 3. 326) * stant 
fiilti pulvere crines.' 

79. * When you see purblind fathers 
reccnnmend these as models of style to 
their children.' Hos monitus appa- 
rently for * monitus de his.' * Nec dubiis 
ea signa dedit Tritonia monstris' Virg. 
Ae. a. 171 ' Hic nostri nuntius esto,' 

4. 337- 

infundere is the same metaphor 
as Hor. i Ep. 2. 67 * Nunc adbibe puro 
Pectore verba puer.* 

lippos, as in a. 73, expressing prob- 
ably partly physical blindness brought on 
by excess, partly mental blindness. Hor. 
i S. i. lao *Crispini scrinia lippit* also 
ib. 3. 35. 

80. sartago, a kettle or frying-pan. 
Juv. 10. 64 and Mayor's note : called so 
from the hissing of its contents, accord- 
ing to IsidoT. ao. 8. Jahn, who compares 
EubuL ap. Athen. 7. p. aa^ A Xoirds 
ita<l>k&((i fiapfidp^ XaXrnMTi, Not very 



24 



PERSII 



venerit in linguas, unde istuc dedecus, in quo 
trossulus exultat tibi per subsellia levis? 
nilne pudet capiti non posse pericula cano 
pellere, quin tepidum hoc optes audire decenterf 
<Fur es* ait Pcdio. Pedius quid? crimina rasis 
librat in antithetis: doctas posuisse figuras 
laudatur * bellum hoc ! * hoc bellum ? an, Romule, ceves ? 
men moveat ? quippe et, cantet si naufragus, assem 
protulerim? Cantas, cum fracta te in trabe pictum 



8i 



85. ^* critmna. 



87. beUum boe htUum esi. 



dissimilar is Horace*s (i S. lo. 30 folL) 
ridicule of the practice of interkirding 
Latin with Greek. 

81. venerit in lingnas instead of 
' in mentem.' Compare ' in buccam 
venire.* 

dedecus conveys the notion of a 
scandal both to taste and morals. Hier. 
in Jov. 1. 1. 4. 3. p. 145 Ben. • Rogo, quae 
sunt haec portenta verborum, quod dede- 
cus descriptionis?* Jahn. 

in quo may either mean * at 
which (over, about)/ like * laborantes ui 
uno Penelopen vitreamque Circen' Hor. 
I Od. 17. 3o, or *during which.' 

83. trossulus, an old name of the 
Roman knights, originally a title of hon^ 
our, afterwards a nickname, as in Varro, 
compared by Casaubon, ' Sesquiulixes ' 
(ap. Non. s. v. * trossuli/ * Nunc emunt 
trossuli nardo nitidi vulgo Attico talento 
equum.') Sen. Ep. 87. 8. p. 343 Schw. 
* O quem cuperem illi [Catoni] nunc oc- 
currere aliquem ex his trossulis in via 
divitibus.' Persius probably has both re- 
ferences in view. 

exsultat, like ' trepidare/ v. so. 
Jahn compares Quint. 3. 3. 9 * At nunc 
proni atque succincti ad onmem clausulam 
non exsurgunt modo verum etiam excur- 
runt, et cum indecora exsultatione con- 
clamant,' as Casaubon had already com- 
pared Plut. de Aud. 5 rclt icpavyd» ml 
ToHts $op^0ov» Koi rd wijH^fMra rSar 
wapSvrotJV. Compare also dvamjday r&y 
6p-xfi<fr(av fxaWov, Dion. Chrys. p. 378 
(680) (vpbt 'AAc^orSpcrt) qnoted by 
Seweil, Plato p. 336. 

subsellia, benches occupied during 
a recitation. Juv. 7. 45, 86; not, as 



Jahn thinks, the seats in court, as 
nothing is said about a trial till the 
next paragraph, though such a hybrid 
style may very likely have crept into 
oratory. Compare Tac. Or. 31 above 
dted. 

Ievis = *levigatus* — opposed to the 

* hispida membra ' of the old Romans : 
so that * trossulus levis ' may be a kind of 
oxjrmoron. 

83-91. Pcrsius continues, • This miser- 
able affectation of fine writing besets even 
our criminal courts — even trials for life 
and death. The defendant studies the 
requirements of rhetoric, and lays traps 
for applause — ^which he gets. We shall 
have starving beggars tuming rhetoricians 
next.* 

83. 3. 3 1 * Non pudet ? * 

capiti more probably the dative, 
whether e:q>lained as an ethical dative, or 
as originally convertible with the abl., 
than a rare form of the abl., for which 
Jahn compares CatuU. 68. 133, Tibull. 
I. I. 73. Jahn cites Virg. E. 7. 47 • Sol- 
stitium pecori defendite.' * Caput canum ' 
are frequently foond together. See 
Freund. 

cano, V. 9 note. 

84. tepidum nearly^*fngidum.' Gr. 
tfwxp^' * Ceteros eiusdem lentitodinis 
ac teporis libros ' Tac. Or. 31. 

decenter, like *euge' and *belle.' 

* What admirable taste 1 ' 

85. Fur es is put as plainly as pos- 
sible, to contrast with the elaboration of 
the reply. 

Pedius seems to be a mixture bf 
the advocate named by Hor. i S. lo. 38, 
seemingly in connexion with the trial of 



SAT. I. 



25 



bubble of knguage into their mouths ? What is the source of the 
scandal, which puts your eflfeminate grandees, along the benches, 
into such ecstasies of motion ? 

Are you not ashamed not to be able to plead against perils 
threatening your gray hairs, but you must needs be ambitious of 
hearing mawkish compliments to your * good taste ? ' The accuser 
tells Pedius point blank, You are a thief. What does Pedius do? 
Oh, he balances the charges in polished antitheses — he is de- 
servedly praised for the artfulness of his tropes. Monstrous fine 
that! That monstrous fine? What, old Romulus, you turning 
spaniel? Am I to be touched forsooth and pull out a penny, if 
a shipwrecked man begins singing me a song ? You sing, when 
you have actually got yourself painted in a wreck to carry on 



PetiUius for * furtum ' and ' Pedius Blae- 
sus,' who was tried and condemned under 
Nero for extortion from the Cyrenians 
two years before Persius' death. Persius 
probably refers to the passage in Horace, 
the gist of Which is an appeal to the apes 
of Ludlius, who interlarded their poetry 
with Greek. * Would you do so if you 
had to plead in a criminal trial for a great 
criminal, with the famous Pedius against 
you, putting out all the powers of his 
mother tongue?' So here Persius may 
mean, * Even the eloquence of the bar, to 
which Horace would point as a genuine 
unaifected thing, has caught the taint — 
even our Pediuses talk like schoolboys 
or pedants.* 

crimina .. librat, not that he 
balances the charges against each other, 
but that he makes each the subject of 
balanced antitheses. 

rasis = 'teretibus.' 
86. antithetis. * Semper haec, quae 
Graeci dyTl0(Ta nominant, cum contrariis 
opponuntur contraria, numerum oratorium 
necessitate ipsa faciunt, et eum sine in- 
dustria ' Cic. Orator. 50. 

doctas, Scaliger's correction, is 
adopted by Plaut., Nebriss., and Heinr., 
the latter of whom puts a full stop after 
• figuras.' 

posuisse .. laudatur ss* laudatur 
quod posuit/ the inf. being really the 
cognate acc. expressing the praise re- 
ceived. See Madvig, § 400, though he 
does not mention this instance, which 
is more remarkable than any there 
given. 

figura, Gr. (Tx^/mx. Cic. de Or. 



3» 53» Or. 39, Quint. 9. i. Freund. 

87. bellum hoc bellum the best 
MSS., whence Jahn reads, ' bellum hoc, 
hoc bellum.' 

Romule, like *Titi,' • Romulidae,' 
• Trossulus.' 

ceves, like * trepidare,' * exsultare,* 
but with a further notion of moral de- 
basement. 

88. men' moveat dmex Pantilius?' 
Hor. I S. 10. 78. The sentiment is the 
same as Hor. A. P. 102 * Si vis me flere, 
dolendum est Primum ipsi tibi.' Com- 
pared by Lubin. Compare also Hor. i S. 
10. 25 * Cum versus facias, te ipsum 
percontor, an et cum Dura tibi peragenda 
rei sit causa Petilli ? ' which forms part of 
the context of the passage referred to on 
V. 85, as bdng in Persius' mind. The 
subject of * moveat ' here is ' naufragus.' 
From this we may infer that the custom 
of beggars singing ballads was not un- 
known at Rome. 

89. Draws out the image of the shi[v 
wrecked sailor. ' Si fractis enatat exspes 
Navibus aere dato qui pingitur' Hor. 
A. P. 20. Compare 6. 32 * ne pictus 
oberret Caerulea in tabula/ and Juv. 
14. 302. 

pictum in trabe and *pictum in 
tabula' are very different, the one ex- 
pressing the manner of the painting (' in 
trabe ' constructed closely with * te '), the 
other the material on which the painting 
is made. The question may be raised 
whether * fracta in trabe ' is for ' in nau- 
fragio' (compare *trabe rupta* 6. 27, 
' fractis trabibus' Juv. 14. 296, ' fractis 
navibus ' Hor. 1. c), or * on a broken 



26 



PERSII 



ex umero portes? verum, nec nocte paratum 
plorabit, qui me volet incurvasse querella. 

^ Sed numeris decor est et iunctura addita crudis. 
cludere sic versum didicit Berecyntius Attis 
et qui caeruleum dirimebat Nerea delphin 
sic costam longo subduximus Appennino^ 
Arma virum^ nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui, 
ut ramale vetus vegrandi subere coctum? 



90 



95 



90. tierum $ eras. inter r tt u. 



95. SL 



97. praegrandi. 



plank?' Jahn thinks from Martial la. 
57. la *fasciato nanfragus loquax trunco,' 
that the painting may be actually on the 
plank. Two MSS. omit m. 

90. verum . . paratum are neuters, 
but the construction is that of a cognate 
acc 

nocte paratum may be illustrated 
by a beautiful passage in Lucr. i. 140 
' Sed tua me virtus tamen, et sperata 
voluptas Suavis amicitiae, quemvis sufferre 
laborem Suadet, et inducit noctes vigilare 
serenas,* So Juv. 7- 27 * vigilataque 
proelia dele.' Compare the use of * lucu- 
bro.' Persius taunts the pleaders with 
their labour, while, in v. 106, he taunts 
the poets with thdr want of labour, 
choosing the sneer which seems most 
appropriate in each case, probably with- 
out much regard to absolute consist- 

ency. 

91. plorabit . . volet in the sense 
of * ploret . . velit/ • Ibit eo quo vis, 
qui zonam perdidit* Hor. 2 £p. 2. 
40. 

incurvare is used in this metapho- 
rical sense more than once in Seneca, e. g. 
Ep. 71 * hoc, ut opinor, succidere men- 
tem, et incurvarit et succumbere.' So 
Hor. 3 Od. 10. 16 * Nec tinctus viola 
pallor amantium. . . . Curvat;* A. P. 
iio 'Aut ad bumum moerore gravi de- 
ducit et angit.' 

93-106. The distribution of these 
lines is difficult. Casaubon's plan, which 
is really that of the early editors, and has 
been foUowed by most of the later, 
gives V. 92 to the objector, w. 93-5 
to Persius, who takes him up, 'as for 
instance in these sp^imois;* v. 94 to 
the objector, who defends the despised 
lines by the example of Virgil; v. 95 



to Persius, who shows that Virgil sup- 
plies no parallel ; v. 96 to the objector, 
who opens another line of defence, and 
the rest to Persius, who retorts as before 
by quoting specimens, on which he in- 
dignantly comments. Jahn, however, 
seems right in giving w. 92-95 to the 
objector, as no^ng is there said ipso 
facto disparaging to the poets, and in 
giving w. 96, 97 to Persius ; but he 
would have done better by assigning 
V. 98 not to the objector but to Persius, 
who asks for a fresh spedmen. 

F. 'Well, they have at any rate suc- 
ceeded in giving polish to our poetry, as, 
for instance, . . . .' P. * Shade of Virgil ! 
what frothy, fungous trash ! Oblige me 
by another specimen of the tenderer sort.' 
F. gives one. P. 'And this is mofdy 
poetry — ^mere drivelling, poured out in- 
voluntarily from an idiot's lips, not wrung 
with toil from an artist's brain.' 

92. iunctura, as in v. 6^, is the weld- 
ing of the different parts of a verse toge- 
ther so that there may be no roughness. 
This roughness is expressed by crudis, 
though through a different metaphor. 
With * crudis * compare 5. 5 * quantas 
robusti carminis ofi^ Ingeris.' 

93. claudere . . versum ('concludere 
versum' Hor. i S. 4. 40), as Jahn re- 
marks, is not merely to conclude a verse, 
but to eompose it, or to ezpress it in 
metrical compass. Hor. 2 S. i. 28 ' me 
pedibus delectat claudere verba.' 

Berecyntius Attis would seem 
to be the nom. to ' didicit,' as Heinr. 
takes it. ' So Berecyntian Attis is taught 
to round thc measure.' The point 
of ridicule appears to be the rhythm, 
which the poet doubtless thought excel- 
lent, a long sweeping word like ' Bere- 



SAT. I. 



27 



your shoulders? No — a inan's tears must come from his heart 
at the moment, not from his brains ovemight, if he would have 
me bowed down beneath his piteous tale. 

But they have given grace and smoothness to our unpolished 
Roman numbers. Thus it is a point gained to round a verse 
with ' Berecynthian Attis ' and * the dolphin that was cutting through 
sea-green Nereus/ or ' We have fetched oflf a rib from the long 
sides of Apenninus.' 

*Arms and the Man.' Can one call /kts anything but frothy 
and fluflfy, like an old dried-up branch with a huge overgrown 
bark upon it? 



cyntius' being a great point gained. 
Thus there is no occasion to read * Attin ' 
with three MSS., so as to produce a 
jingle with * delphin.' For Attis, sce 
CatuUus' poem. Dio says of Nero iici- 
OafXj^hjat rc "Kttiv tiv^ 4 B<&«xa* 
(61. 20). 

94. qui .. delphin is another nom. 
to ' didicit.' Perhaps the expression is 
meant to be ridiculed as well as the 
rh^rthm, as the image of the dolphin 
cleaving Nereus is nearly as grotesque as 
Furius' of Jupiter spitting snow on the 
Alps (Hor. 2 S. 5. 41), or as Alpinus' of 
the muddy head of the Rhine (t6. i S. 
10. 37). Valerius Flaccus, however 
(l. 450, quoted by Jahn), has ' remo 
Nerea versat.' The dolphin in question 
may be Arion's, as the schol. thinks. 
Stat. Theb. 5. 482 has ' Spumea porrecti 
dirimentes terga profundi.' 

95. Both expression and rhythm seem 
to be ridiculed here. The rhythmical 
trick evidently is the spondaic ending with 
the jingle in the middle, like Virgirs 
(Ae. 3. 549, quoted by the schol.), * Cor- 
nua velatarum obvertimus antennarum.' 
The sense is extremely obscure. We can 
see the absurdity of the image of ' fetch- 
ing off a rib from the Apennine/ as if by 
the process of carving (compare Juv. ii. 
142 * Nec frustum capreae subducere nec 
latus Afrae Novit avis noster '), but it is 
not easy to understand what was the 
original reference of the line. The schol. 
sees in it a metaphor, according to which 
taking away a rib from the mountain is 
like taking a syllable from the verse, 
which is consequently enervated. Ascen- 
sius and Plautius understand it of Hanni- 
bal : Nebrissensis of the convulsion which 
separated Sicily from Italy. Gifford seems 
to have no authority for asserting that 



*subducere' is a military term, meaning 
to occupy a position by forced marches, 
as ickhffti is not parallel. The construc- 
tion appears to be sic ' costam.. Apennino' 
[* claudere versum didicit*]. 

96. Arma virum, rightly understood 
by Meister as an ejaculation. Persius 
compares Virgil with these poetasters, as 
Hor. A. P. 141 contrasts the opening 
of the Odyssey with * Fortunam Priami 
cantabo.' Persius does not say ' bel- 
lum hoc* (v. 87), but * nonne hoc spumo- 
sum.' 

spumosum. Compare 5. 19 ' bul* 
latis ut mihi nugis Pagina turgescat.' 

cortice pingui. ' Aridus' and 
' siccus ' are terms of reproach in style, 
and Persius carries out the metaphor by 
comparing these verses to a dried up 
branch with a large pufiy bark. 

97. ramale, 5. 59. Jahn refers to 
Theophr. Hist. Plant. 4. 18., 3. 16, Pliny 
17. 24, 37* to show that the swelling of 
the bark withers the bough, which has 
occasionally to be stripped of its outer 
bark to preserve its vitality. 

vegrandis is well explained by 
Jahn, after Festus and Nonius, as ' male 
grandis,' so as to include the two senses 
attributed to it by Gell. 5. 12., 16. 5, of 
stnall and too large, the former of which 
is the more common, the latter being 
only found in this passage and Cic. Agr. 
2. 34. 93 ' hominem vegrandi macie tor- 
ridum. Compare ' vepallida ' Hor. i S. 
2. 129, where the meaning is plainly very 
pale. 

suber points specifically to the cork 
tree, which has two barks, an outer and 
an inner. 

coctum. Compare Prop. 4. 5. 60 
' Vidi ego odorati victura rosaria Paesti 
Sub matutino cocla iacere Noto.' 



28 



PERSII 



Quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa cervice legendum? 
*, Torva mitnalloneis inplenmt comua bombis^ 
et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo 
Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis 
euhion ingeminat^ reparabilis adsonat echo ? ' 
Haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni 
viveret in nobis? summa delumbe saliva 
hoc natat in labris, et in udo est Maenas et Attis, 
nec pluteum caedit, nec demorsos sapit unguis. 
^Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero 



lOO 



io5 



105. lab$U (r super f eras. superscr. nt Tidetor). 

107. turo vd su (pro uersu f). 



106. ropf/. 



98. igitnr is common in interroga- 
tions, as we nse * then.' * If these are 
yonr specimens of finished versification, 
give us something peculiarly languishing/ 

tenerum. * Aut nimium ^nms in- 
venentur versibus unquam * Hor A. P. 246. 

laxa cervice. Jahn refers to Mei- 
neke, Fr. Com. Gr. 4. p. 612, and to 
Quint. 9. 4. 31, who says that, in speak- 
ing, the neck should not be bent in either 
direction. * Tereti cervice reposta * Lucr. 

1.35. 

99. These lines are commonly sup- 

posed to be Nero's, on the authority of 
the schol., who, however, says elsewhere 
that they are represented by others as 
Persius' own. From Dio, quoted on 
V. 93, it appears that Nero sang a poem 
on the Bacchae to his harp. The line 
seems imitated from Catull. 62 (64). 264 
* Multis raucisonos efiBabant comua bom- 
bos.' Lucr. 4. 544 * £t revocat raucum 
retro cita (" regio cita " Lachm.) barbara 
bombum.' 

Torva, transferred from aspect to 
sound, as by Virg. Ae. 7. 392 * torvumque 
repente Clamat,' which the author may 
have had in view, as Virgil is describing 
Bacchanalian ravings. 

mimallonis occurs Ov. A. A. i. 
141 for a Bacchante, and 'mimallones' 
Stat. Theb. 4. 660. 

inplerunt, sc. the Bacchanals. 

100. vitulo. . superbo is from Eur. 
Bacch. 743 ravpoi h* vfipKrral KtU /cipa» 
OvfioVfi€voi t6 rrp6a0€v k. t. A. The 
Bacchanals overcome powerful bulls and 
tear them to pieces. 



100. ablatura .. flexura. See Mad- 
vig. §§ 424. 5., 425 a. b., 428. 3. The 
participle originaUy denoted only future 
time ; then it came to be used to express 
an intention, like the fnt. part. in Greek ; 
then to express a conditicMial proposition, 
where the Grreeks would have used ai^, so 
that it is sometimes fonnd in the abl. 
absol., a constmction unknown to the 
older writers. Here it appears to be used 
attributively, and almost as an adj., the 
future being probably intended to ex- 
press habit, as in 2. 5 'tacita libabit 
acerra. 

loi. Bassaris. Jahn compares Anth. 
Pal. 6. 74 Ba<r(raf)2« Evpw6/af a/cow^ko- 
9p6fi»9, H vOTC Toipejv HoXXA rawKpai- 
pw aripnfa xp^pf^^^f^^i 'H /liya KOKxa- 
(ovaa \tovro<p6voa M ylKott, Uaiyyiov 
dTk^Tov Brjpbt tx'^'^^ Kdptf. * Non ego 
te, candide Bassaren, Invitum quatiam' 
Hor. I Od. 18. II. The lynx was sacred 
to Bacchus, as the conqueror of India. 
' Victa racemifero lynces dedit India 
Baccho' Ov. M. 15. 413. * Quid lynces 
Bacchi variae ? * Virg. G. 3. 263. Else- 
where he is drawn by tigers, as in Hor. 
3 Od. 3. 13. Virg. Ae. 6. 804 * Nec qui 
pampineis victor iw^fleedt babenis Liber, 
agens celso Nysae de vertice *^«s,' 
where *pampineis habenis' explains *co- 
rymbis.* 

102. Evion. Ev(o« is an epithet of 
Bacchus, as invoked with the cry cjyoT, 
(vd. Soph. Oed. R. 201 (quoted by Jahn) 
olySjwa BdKx^^ €viov /uuy^Jivy 6fi6aToKo». 
So that Evion is probably intended here 
as a Greek acc. 



SAT. I. 



29 



* Well, what should you instance as soft and adapted for being 
recited with a gende bend of the neck ? ' 

Their grim hours they fiUed with Mimallonean boomings — the 
Bassarid, ready to tear the scomful calf 's head from his shoulders, 
and the Maenad, ready to rein in the lynx with ivy branches, shout 
Evia again and again, and the redeeming power of £cho chimes in. 

* Would such things be produced if we had one spark of our 
fathers' manhood alive in us? Nerveless stuff — it floats in the 
mouth on the top of the spitde, and comes drivelling out in- 
voluntarily. Maenad and Atys — it involves no battery of the 
writing-chair, and has no smack of nails bitten down to the 
quick.' 

But where is the occasion to let rough truths grate on tender 



102. reparabilis, actively, restoring 
the lost sound. Ov. M. i. 11 of the 
moon, * reparat nova comna.' 

adsonat. ' Plangentibus adsonai 
Echo ' Ov. M. 3. 507. 

104. summa . . saliva, a stronger ver- 
sion of ' summis labris/ which Seneca uses 
(£p. 10. 3) ' Non a summis labris ista 
venerunt: habent hae voces fundamen- 
tum/ apparently from the Greek dird 
XCiA^flur, which Plut. Cato Maj. 12 op- 
poses to dwd teapdias. Jahn, who also com- 
pares Gell. i. 15 * qui nullo rerum pondere 
innizi verbis bumidis et lapsantihus dif- 
flvunit eorum orationem bene existima- 

tum est in cre nasci, non in pectore;' 
and Quint. 10. 3. 2 * sine conscientia 
profectus non a summo petiti, ipsa illa ez 
tempore dicendi facuhas inanem modo 
loquacitatem dabit, et verba in labris 
nascentia* Compare v. 81, above, * Ve- 
nerit in linguas* 

delumbis, a rare word. Cic. 
Or. 69 has ' concidat delumbetque sen- 
tentias.' Tac. Or. 18 'Ciceronem male 
audisse a Bruto, ut ipsius verbis utar, 
tanquam fractum atque elumbem.' 

delumbe .. hoc, like 'bellum hoc.' 

105. With natat Heinr. compares 
Quint. 10. 7. 28 ' innatans ille verborum 
facilitas.' Heinr. puts a semicolon after 
* natat.' Jahn, with the rest, after * labris.' 
Perhaps it might be better to make ' hoc ' 
the nom. to both * natat * and * est,' and 
put ' Maenas et Attis ' in apposition to 
it? 

in udo est. Jahn compares iy 
ifyp^ itrriv ij ^Xwrra Theoph. ch. 8, of 
a taJkative man. 

106. The schol. seems right in ex- 



plaining pluteum here of the backboard 
of the Mecticula lucubratoria' (v. 53note). 
' Sponda est ezterior pars lecti, pluteus 
interior.* Suetonius Cal. 26 ' caenanti 
modo ad pluteumt modo ad pedes stare.' 
Prop. 4. 8. 6S 'Lygdamus ad plntei 
fulcra sinistra latens.' The man lies on 
his couch after his meal, listle^sly drivel- 
ling out his verses, without any physical 
exertion or even movement of impa- 
tience. 

106. caedit, like 'caedere ostium* 
Lucil. 28. 23. Heinr. Crreek KiSvrciy. 
' caedit ' rhetorical for ' caedere facit.' 
Compare 2. 64 ' Haec sibi corrupto ca- 
siam dissolvit olivo : Haec Calabrum 
coxit vitiato murice vellus.' 

demorsos sapit unguis. Imi- 
tated from Hor. i S. 10. 70, speaking of 
what Lucilius failed to do * in versu faci- 
endo saepe caput scaberet, vivos et roderet 
ungues' 

107-123. F. 'Even if this be truth, 
why tell it ? You will only offend those 
whom it is your interest not to offend.' 
P. ' Very well, then — have it your own 
way — put up a board against nuisances, 
and I will leave you. But Lucilius in- 
dulged his humour, and Horace his, 
though in a quicker way — is there no 
place where I may bury my secret?' 
F. • None.' P. * Well, I will confide it 
to my book : listen — All tbe world are 
asses. There, that is worth all your 
Uiads.' 

107. teneras .. auriculas, 'molles 
auriculae' Hor. 2 S. 5. 32. 

teneras . . raderc. 3. 113 * tenero 
latet ulcus in ore Pntre, quod haud deceat 
plebeia radere beta.' 



30 



PERSII 



auriculas ? vide sis, ne maiorum tibi fbrte 

limina frigescant: sonat hic de narecanina 

littera/ Per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba^ 

nii moror. euge! omnes, omnes bene mirae eritis res. 

hoc iuvat? ^hic' inquis ^veto quisquam faxit oletum/ 

pinge duos anguis: pueri, sacer est locus, extra 

meite! discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem, 

te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis; 

omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico 

tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit, 

callidus excusso populum suspendere naso: 

men muttire nefas ? nec clam, nec cum scrobe, nusquam ? 



IIO 



«15 



IIZ. omnis ei enim. 112. mjuit, s snpencr. 113. pingue. 

117. amififsn». 119. miutiret / post / snpencr. 



107. mordaci. 5. 86 ' aurem mordaei 
lotus aceto.' *MoTdaz verum/ like 'ge- 
nerosum honestum * a. 74* ' opimum 
pingue* 3. 33. 

108. ' Vide sis signi quid siet ' Plaut. 
Am. a. 3. 155. vide shortened like 
*cave • Hor. i Ep. 13. 19. 

maiorum, imitated from Hor. 2 S. 
I. 60 ' O puer, ut sis Vitalis metuo, et 
maiontm ne quis amicus Frigore te 
feriat.' 

109. The coldness of the master is 
transferred to the thieshold, because the 
door shut leaves the af^licant in the coid. 
Prop. I. 16. 22 * Tristis et in tepido 
limine somnus erit.' 2. 13. 71 * Nec 
libet in triviis sicca requiescere luna.' 
Hor. 3 Od. 10. 19 'Non hoc semper 
erit liminis ant aquae Caelestis patiens 
btui.' 

canina littera. R. ' Irritata canis 
quod homo quam planiu* dicit ' Lucil. Fr. 
I. 23. So dogs were said * hirrire.* The 
snarl is that of the great man — * ira 
cadat naso' 5.91, but the image sug- 
gested is that of the dog at tbe door. 
'Cave canem.' 

iio. Per me. *Per me vel stertas 
licet ' Cic. Acad. 2. 29. 

equidem, used, though the verb is 
not in the ist person, as in 5. 45 *non 
equidem dubites.' Here it is as if he had 
said ' equidem concedo.* 



iio. protinus, 'from this day for- 
ward.' 

alba, ' mark them with white (Hor. 
2 S. 3. 245) and I wili not blacken them.' 
The sense is the same as Hor. A. P. 442 
' Si defendere delictum quam vertere mal- 
les, Nullum ultra verbum aut operam 
insumebat inanem Quin sine rivali teque 
et tua solus amares.' 

111. nil moror. Not ' I don't care ' 
(Jahn), but «I don't object' = *per me 
nulla mora est' 

euge, V. 49. ' You shall all of you 
be the marvels of creation.' 

With mirae res we may compare 
such expressions as ' dulcissime rerum* 
HoT. I S. 9. 4, if they are to be explained 
as partitive. Casaubon prefers ' omnes, 
omnes/ from some MSS. 

112. hoc iuvat, interrogatively, as 
in Hor. 1 S. i. 78. Jahn. The decree 
is couched in legal phrase. 

113. anguis, as the genii of the place. 
Virg. Ae. 5. 95. There are some remains 
of a similar painting and inscription on a 
wall at Rome which once formed part of 
Nero's golden palace, where Titus' baths 
were afterwards built. (A. de Romanis, 
' Le antiche Camere Esquiline/ Rome, 
1822. Osann. Syll. p- 494. 45» referred 
to by Jahn). 

114. discedo implies that Persius 
takes the waming to himself. 



SAT. I. 



31 



ears? Do take care that you are not frozen some day on a 
great man's doorstep. Notice— human snarlers kept on the pre- 
mises. 

'Ah, well — paint everjrthing white from this day forward for 
me — I won't spoil your game. Bravo, you shall be wonders of 
the world, every one of you. Is that what you would like? No 
nuisances, say you, to be committed here. Draw a couple of snakes, 
young gentlemen, the ground is sacred : retire outside. I 'm oflf. 
Lucilius, though, bit deep into the town of his day, its Lupuses 
and Muciuses, and broke his jaw-tooth on them. Horace, the 
rogue, manages to probe every fault while making his friend laugh ; 
he gains his entrance, and plays about the innermost feelings, with 
a sly talent for tossing up his nose and catching the public on it. 
And is it sacrilege for me to mutter a word ? May it not be done 
in confidence between myself and a ditch ? ' 



114. secuit is applied to any kind of 
wonnd. * Ambo (postes) ab infimo tarmes 
seeai' Plaut. Most. 3. 2. 140, ' gnaws.' 
Here we might take it for * secuit fla- 
gello ' but for * genuinum.' Hor. i S. 
10. 4 says of Ludlius, * sale multo Urbem 
defricuit.' 

115. Lupus and Mucius were ene- 
mies of Scipio, Ludlius' patron. 

Lupus is said by the schol. on Hor. 
3 S. I. 68 ' Famosisve Lupo cooperto 
versibus ' to have been P. Rutilius Lupus, 
who was consul 664 with L. Julius Cae- 
sar, but as Lucilius had then been dead 
thirteen years, it seems more likely to 
have been L. Lentulus Lupus, who was 
consul with C. Marcius Figulus 597, 
which is the opinion of Tarentius in loc 
Hor. 

Mucius. P. Mudus Scaevola con- 
sul 621. *Quid refert dictis ignoscat 
Mueius an non?' Juv. i. 174. 

genuinum fregit, pcrhaps with 
reference to the story of the viper and the 
file, alluded to by Hor. 2 S. i. 77, though 
the image here is meant to be to the 
honour of Lucilius, who fastened on his 
enemies without carihg for the conse- 
quences. * Animasque in vulnere ponunt ' 
Virg. G. 4. 238. Contrast the differcnt 
ways in which Hor. II. cc. and Juv. 1. 165 
characterize Lucilius with the present 
passage. 

116. omne .. vitium. Compare 
such passages as Hor. 2 £p. 2. 205 * Non 
es avarus : abi. Quid ? cetera iam 



simul isto Cum vitio fiigere?' The re- 
mark is more true of Horace's later than 
of his earlier works, though the word 
ridenti expresses a principle laid down 
more than once in the Satires, e. g. i S. 

I. 24., 10. 14. 

116. vafer seems to answer to our 
•rogue.* *Alfcnus va/er* Hor. i S. 3. 
130. 'Surrentina vafer qui miscet faece 
Falema ' 2 S. 4. 55. Horace is so called 
because he takes his friend in. 

amico is opp. to 'populum.' Horace 
takes his friends playfiilly to task for their 
weaknesses, but is more contemptuous in 
speaking of men in general, and mentions 
obnoxious individuals even with bitter- 
ness. Possibly * amico ' may refer more 
particularly to the Epistles. 

117. admissus, ' into the bosom.' 
praecordia is emphatic — he plays, 

but it is with the innermost and most 
sensitive feelings. 

118. callidus.. suspendere, Prol. 11. 
excusso. * Nares inflare et movere 

. . et pulso subito spiritu excutere ' Quint. 

II. 3. 80, si lectio certa. ' Sursum 
iactato/ Heinr. who compares *£xcussa 
brachia ' Ov. M. 5. 596. 

populum. See note on v. 116, and 
compare such passages as Hor. I £p. I. 
69 ' Quod si me populus Romanus forte 
roget,' etc. 

suspendere naso, v. 40 note. 

119. muttire. CoUoquial word, used 
by Plautus and Terence. See Freund. 

muttire .. clam, opp. to * muttire 



32 



PERSII 



hic tamen infbdiam. vidi, vidi ipse, libelle : 
auriculas asini quis non habet? hoc ego opertum, 
hoc ridere meum, tam nil, nulla tibi vendo 
Iliade. audaci quicumque adflate Cratino 
iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles, 
aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis* 
indc vaporata lector mihi ferveat aure: 
non hic, qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit 



I20 



»25 



120. tiidi bie. 



laS- afflanU. 



palam' Enn. Fr. Teleph. apod Fest. 
(p. 145 Miill), who says that 'muttire' 
there »•* loqai/ but the passage will bear 
the ordinary sense. 

119. nec (fas). 
cum scrobe, because the hole in 
the ground is the supposed panmr of the 
secret. The allusion, of course, is to the 
story of Midas. 

lao. infodiam, as Madan remarks, 
is more applicable to the ancient than to 
the modem manner of writiiig. 

vidi was the form of giving evi- 
dence. Juv. 7. 13., 16. 40. 

libelle. *I, puer, atque meo citus 
haec subscribe libtllo* Hor. i S. 10. 92. 
Persius chooses his book as his confidant, 
as Horace, of whom he was thinking, 
says LuciUus did (2 S. I. 30), * IUe velut 
fidis arcana sodalibus oHm Credebat 
libris.' 

121. Casaubon changed quis non 
habet into * Mida rex habet,' on the 
authority of the Life of Persius, which 
says that Persius left * Mida rex,' but 
Comutus, in revising die work for post- 
humous publication, thought it better 
to suppress so obvious a reflection on 
Nero, and altered it into *quis non.' 
* C^is non,* however, is clearly required 
by the satire as we now have it, the fact 
that everyhody has ass*s ears being the 
secret with which Persius has been labour- 
ing ever since v. 8 ; and the whole tone 
of the preceding part of the poem makes 
it much more likely that tlie sarcasm, 
as intended, should be universal than 
particular. 

opertum. 'This dead and buried 
secret.* « Operta recludit * Hor. i Ep. 
5- 16. 

122. hoc ridere meum, v. 9 note. 



122. tam niL *Usque adeo nibil 
cst?' Juv. 3. 84. 

vendo is not only * 1 sell,' but * I 
ofSec for sale,' (venum do) * quoniam 
vendat, velle quem optime vendere ' C:c. 
3 Off. 12. 

123. Iliade, v. 50, note on ^.'4. 
1^3'I34- Persius concludes. ' Let 

n^ readers be the few that can relish the 
old comedy of Greece, not the idle 
loungers and senseless buifoons of the 
day — tbey may kiU time in a more con- 
goiial manner.' 

123. An answer to ' Quis leget haec,' 
V. 2. He has already disclaimed the read- 
ing pnblic which his friend values ; and 
now, after repeating that he values his 
own joke, slight as it is, infinitely higher 
than Labeo's Homer, whtch he foresaw 
from the first would be his rival, he 
sketches the reader whom he really 
wishes to attract. Thus the end of the 
poem corresponds to the beginning. It 
is evidently modelled on the latter part 
of Hor. I S. 10. Horace intends his 
words to ai^Iy to the whole book of 
which they form a conclusion : whether 
Persius means his to apply merely to this 
Satire, or to the whole book, is not clear : 
probably the latter, if we suppose the 
Satire to be introductory — designed to 
clear the ground by sweeping away the 
popular trash of the time before he asks 
attention for his own more manly strains. 
The appeal to the old comedians as his 
masters is from Hor. i S. 4. i foll. 

audaci, ' bold-spoken.' Jahn refers 
to Platon. de Com. p. 27 ov ySip &(rv€p 

d 'Api<rrofp&yijt kmrpix^*^ '"^*' X^P*^ 
ToTs aie&fi/uuTi woiu . . d\X* dirXw» itai 
/eard rij^ wapoi/day yvfjtv^ kc^oX^ riOriat 
Tcb fikofffpyfdat icard rSf¥ dfu^»ray6vrcjv. 



SAT. L 



33 



In no place or circumstance whatever. 

* Well, I will dig a hole and bury it here. I have seen it, my 
dear book, I have seen it with my own eyes. Who is there that 
has not the ears of an ass ? This dead and buried secret, this joke 
of mine, trmnpery as it seems, I am not going to sell you for any 
of your Iliads. 

To all who draw their inspiration from the bold blasts of Cra- 
tinus, and owe their paleness to the indignant Eupolis and the 
third of those ancient giants, I say, Cast a look here too, if you 
have an ear for something which has lost its first froth, Let my 
reader come with the glow of their strains still in his ears. I don't 
want the gentleman who loves to have his low fling at the slip- 
pers of the Greeks, and is equal to calling a one-eyed man Old 



and to Anon. de Com. p. 29 '^ifovt tk 
votrjTiKirraTo», icarcuric€vd(ojy cl« rdy 

adflate, like *adflata numine' Virg. 
Aen. 6. 50. Jahn. Possibly also with a 
reference to the Epigram on Cratinus, 
Tavr' lAc^cy, Ai6w<r€, KCLt tw€tv, oix 
iy6t iurKov Kparipot, dAXct iravrdt dficjSoiit 
wl0ov Anthol. Pal. a. p. 543. * adflate * 
▼oc. for nom. like 'miUesime, trabeate' 
3. a8, 9. * Quibus Hector ab oris ex- 
peetate venis?' Virg. Aen. 2. 282. 

X24. iratum. Jahn quotes Anon. 
de Com. 1. c. (rjKSjy KparTvoy voX^ 7C 
XoiZopay ^wupab^ti, Persius expres^y 
wishes to imitate the old poets in their 
licence of invective. 

praegrandi cum sene, as Jahn 
remarks, must refer to Aristophanes, who 
is called ' praegrandis ' in respect of his 
genius, as Cic. Brut. 83. 287 calls Thucy- 
dides * grandis/ ' senex ' in respect of his 
antiquity as one of the ancientSt as Horace 
calls Lucilius, who died at forty-four, 
•senex' (2 S. i. 34). Heinr. (who 
thinks Lucilius himself is meant) com- 
pares Hor. 2 Ep. i. 55 * Aufert Pacuvius 
docti famam senis, Accius alti.* 

palles. The paleness which Persius 
attacks (v. 26) is that of debauchery and 
dilettante study ; but he is ready to sympa- 
thize with the paleness of the genuine 
student, 3. 85., 5. 62. Possibly some 
connexion may be intended here, as in 
V. 26, between * pallor * and * senium * — 
the student poring so long over the an- 
cdents that he catches their colour. At 
any rate * Eupolidem pallere ' is to be ex- 
plained as a cogn. acc, like 'sapimus 



patruos' (v. 11) ss «pallere pallorem Eu- 
polideum.' ' Multos pallere colores ' 
Prop. 1. 15. 39. * Sabbata palles ' (5. 184) 
is a different construction. 

125. *Hanc etiam, Maecenas, adspice 
partem ' Virg. G. 4. 2. * Tamen adspice, 
si quid Et nos, quod cures proprium 
fecisse, loquamur' Hor. i Ep. 17* 4* 

decoctius opp. to *spumosus' v. 96. 
Virg. G. I. 295 ' Aut dulcis musti Vulcano 
decoquit humorem, Et fohis undam tre- 
pidi despumat aeni.' 
f 126. Possibly vaporata .. aure may 
be intended as a continuation of the meta- 
phor. 

ferveat opp. to *tepidus/ v. 84, 
frigid dilettantism. • Ears were cleansed 
by steaming as well as by washing with 
vinegar. Jahn. 

127. ' Not the low wit that laughs at 
national peculiarities and personal infir- 
mities.' Compare the English footman in 
Dr. Moore's Zeluco, quoted by Macau- 
lay, ' Essay on Johnson.' Jealousy was 
felt of the Greek dress, the * pallium ' and 

* crepidae/ as likely to encroach on the 
Roman, the * toga ' and * calcei ;' and 
one of the things which tended to bring 
Tiberius into contempt during his early 
residence at Rhodes was his adoption of 
this costume (Suet. Tib. 13, referred to 
by Konig). It would be unpopular too 
as associated with the professors of phi- 
losophy. 

ludere in, a very rare construction. 

* Who loves to have his joke at.' Heinr. 
remarks of this and the foUowing lines, 
*SchiIderung der damaligen Romischen 
Philisterwelt.' 



D 



34 



PERSII 



sordidus, et luscx) qui possit dicere ^ lusce/ 

sese aliquem credens^ Italo quod honore supinus 

fregerit eminas Arreti aedilis iniquas; 

nec qui abaco numeros et secto in pulvere metas 

scit risisse vafer, muitum gaudere paratus, 

si cynico barbam petulans nonaria vellat. 

his mane edictum, post prandia Calliroen do. 



130 



lap. sopintu. 



131. insteto ptduere. 



laS. sordidns. Frequently in Cicero 
appUed to a person in the sense of base or 
mean— opposed to generosity or iiberality 
of mind. Jahn makes the opposition 
between the refinement of the degant 
Greek and the vulgarity of the low Ro- 
man — the eternal feud between good 
clothes and bad. 

possit after 'gestit,' Uke *deceat* 
(3. 71) in the middle of a number of 
indicatives. Here the force may be, 
' Who would be able on occasion/ etc. 
'He knows that the man has only one 
eye, and can tell him so.' Jerome 
(c. Jovin. 2. t 4. a. p. 214) says, 'Quid 
prodest Ivseum vocare luscumV Schre- 
velius quotes Arist. Eth. 3. c tom Bcd 

129. aliquem, an ezpression conmion 
in Greek and Latin. Theocr. ii. 79 
(Jahn), Acts 5. 36, Juv. i. 74, Cic. ad 
Att. 13. 15. 8, opposed to oifM» or 
* nullus.* 



Italo, provincial, opposed Qot to 
Greek, but to Roman, to the magistracies 
(* honores ') of the metropolis. 

supinus here = ' superbus,' only 
more graphic, * head in air.* ' Haec et 
talia dum refert supmus ' Mart. 5. 8. 10. 

130. Imitated by Juv. 10. loa * Quam 
de mensura ius dicere, vasa minora Fran- 
gere pannosus vacuis aedilis Ulubris/ 
where see Mayor*s notes. The same duty 
devolved on the aediles at Rome. In 
the * municipia * the aediles ranked among 
the chief magistrates, * sufficiunt tunicae 
summis aedUibus albae ' Juv. 3. I79> Ho- 
race (i S. 5. 34 foU.) laughs at the provin- 
cial importance of the praetor of Fundi. 

emina» half a sextarius, both diy and 
liquid measure. 

131. *Nor the man who laughs at 
philosophy simply because he cannot 
understand it' The ' abacus ' was a slab 
of marble or some other material used by 
mathenuticians, and covered with sand 



SAT. I. 



35 



One-eye, thmking himself somebody forsooth, because once stuck 
up with provincial dignity, he has broken short half-pint measures 
oflficially at Arretium; nor the man who has the wit to laugh at 
the figures on the slab and the cones drawn in sand, ready to 
go oflf in ecstasies if a woman pulls a Cynic by the beard. To 
these I aliow the play-bill for their morning's reading and after 
luncheon Calliroe.' 



for the purpose of drawing figures and 
making calculations. Jahn. Heinr. quotes 
Apul. Apol. p. 284 ' si non modo campo 
et glebis, verum etiam abaco et pulyisculo 
te dedisses.' Others, like Casaubon, 
separate the ' abacus ' from the * pulvis,' 
making the former an arithmetical count- 
ing-board — theJatter the sand on the 
ground on which geometers described 
their diagrams, as Archimedes, called by 
Cic. Tusc. 5. 33 * homunculus a pulvere 
et radio ' (Konig), was doing at the 
time of his murder. Cicero (N. D. 2. 18) 
speaks of * erudiius pulvis.' Casaubon. 
Tfae original meaning of * meta * is ' a 
cone.' See Freund. ' Buxus in metas 
emittitur' Plin. 16. 16. 28. 

132. scit risisse, v. 53, * has the 
discemment to laugh.' 

vafer, v. 116. * Laudare paratus' 
Juv. 3. 106, who is fond of the con- 
struction, ' he has learnt his lesson and is 
primed and ready to go off* 

I33> * Vellunt tibi barbam Lascivi 
pueri' Hor. 1 S. 3. 133, speaking to a 
Stoic. 

nonaria, seemingly only found here, 



so called because not allowed to appear in 
public before the ninth hour, the time of 
dining (Hor. I Ep. 7. 71). 

134. Persius probably thought of 
Horace's edict (i Ep. 19. 8) * Forum 
putealque Libonis Mandabo siccis, adi- 
mam cantare severis/ as Casaubon ob- 
serves. 

edictum seems best taken as the 
* play-bill/ as in Sen. £p. 1 1 7. 30 (quoted 
by Marcilius) * Nemo qui obstetricem par- 
turienti filiae sollicitus arcessit, ediclum ei 
ludorum ordinem perlegit. ' The * edictum ' 
of the praetor would be less interesting 
to this class of idlers, and besides cannot 
have been a dcUly object of curiosity. 

Calliroe, a poem of the PhyUis and 
Hypsipyle stamp (v. ^4), which would be 
recited after dinner. The schol. says that 
one Atines (?) Celer wrote a puerile 
comedy(?) on the subject. The context 
seems to require some literary trash, as a 
set off against Persius' own productions. 
The spelling *Calliroen' is adopted by 
Jahn from the MSS. There is no such 
form as * Callirhoe,* the choice being be- 
tween EaWipf^rj and Ka\Kip6tf, 



D 2 



SATURA II. 

HuNc, Macrine, dicm numera meiiore lapillo, 
qui tibi labentis apponit candidus annos. 
funde merum genio« non tu prece poscis emaci, 
quae nisi seductis nequeas committere divis; 
at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra. 



On rigbt and wrong prayers io tbe 
gods, A birtbday poem to Macrinus, 

Comp. generally PUto's Secoad Alci- 
biades, Juv. Sat. lo. The subject was 
one conimonly discussed in the schools of 
the philosophers. Jahn. 

l-i6. * Enjoy your birthday fireely, my 
friend, and propitiate the power that 
governs your happiness. Vottr prayers 
are sure to be acceptable, unlike those of 
most of our great men, who dare not ex- 
press their wishes openly. They pray 
selfishly for money, and for the death of 
those who stand between them and their 
enjoyment — aye, and think they shall be 
heard, as they have gone through all the 
ritual forms.' 

I. Plotius Macrinus, the SchoLsays, 
was a learned man who loved Persius 
as his son, having studied in the house 
of the same preceptor, Servilius. He had 
sold some property to Persius at a re- 
duced price. Birthday gifts were com- 
mon at Rome. Authors used to send 
their works as presents *natalitii titulo.' 
Censorinus de Die Nat. i, referred to by 
Casaubon. 

meliore lapillo. *0 lucem can- 
didiore nota * Catull. 107. 6. * Quem /a- 
pide illa diem candidiore notat' ib, 68. 148. 
'Cressa ne careat pulcra dies nota' Hor. 
I Od. 36. 10, commonly explained by a 



story of PIiny*s (H. N. 7. 40, 41) that the 
Thracians used to lay aside a white or 
black stone for every day of their livcs, 
accordingly as it was lucky or unlucky, 
like the pebbles used in voting on crimi- 
nal trials ; and so doubtless it was under- 
stood by Pliny the younger (Ep. 6, ii. 3) 
and Martial (i 2. 34. 5 sqq.), who use the 
word ' calculus : ' but it may be doubted 
(comp. Hor. 1. c. with 2 Sat. 3. 246) 
whether * lapis candidior' in Catull. means 
an^rthing more than cbalk, and whether 
Persius has not copied him, using *numero * 
as equivalent to * noto/ With the general 
sentiment comp. Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 210 'Na- 
tales grate numeras V 

2. labentis apponit. Theyears, as 
they glide away unobserved (Hor. 2 Od. 
14. 2) are kept in check by the birthday, 
which adds each to the account. * Ap- 
ponit* contains the notion of gain (' lucro 
appone' Hor. l Od. 9. 15), each year 
being looked upon as so much more plea- 
sure reaUzed. Comp. Hor. 2 Od. 5. 13 
* Currit enim feroz Aetas, et illi quos tibi 
demserit Apponet annos,' though there the 
thought tums on the gradual diminution 
of the disparity of years between an old 
man and a young woman. 

candidus. Jahii comp. Tib. i. 7. 
63 ' At tu, Natalis^ multos celebrande per 
annos, Candidior semper candidiorque veni.' 



SATIRE II. 



This day, Macrinus, mark with a stone of more auspicious hue, 
the white day, which adds to your account each year as it glides 
away. Pour the wine to your genius. You are not the man to 
make higgling prayers, asking the gods for things which you can 
only confide to them when you have got them in a corner. Mean- 
time, the mass of our upper classes will go on making libations 
from a censer that tells no tales. It is not every one who is 



3. ' Scit Genius, natale comes qui tem- 
perat astrum, Naturae deus humanae, 
mortalis in unum Quodque caput, vultu 
mutabilis, albus et ater' Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 187. 
The Genius was the deification of the 
happier or impulsive part of man, so that 
an oifering to it implied that the day was 
to be spent in real enjoyment. ^Cras 
Gemum mero Placabis, et porco bimestri' 
Hor. 3 Od. 17. 14; *vinoque diurno Pla- 
cari genius festis impune diebus' A. P. 209; 
' piabant Floribus et vino Genium, memo- 
rem brevis aevi' 2 £p. i. 144, where the 
last words may be compared with the city 
mouse's exhortation to the country mouse, 
2 S. 6. 96 * Dum licet, in rebus iucundis 
yive beatus, Vive memor quam sis aevi bre- 
vis.' 6y connecting funde merum ge- 
nio with what foUows, Persius seems to 
say that Macrinus may indulge his inclina- 
tions safely, and be sure that the gods will 
grant them. Censorinus tells us, on the 
authority of Varro, that the Romans 
oifered only flowers and wine to the 
Genius on their birthday, ' ne die qua ipsi 
lucem accepissent, aliis demerent:' but 
Jahn refers to Hertzberg de Dis Rom. 
Patriis, p. 24, to show that this was not 
an invariable rule. 



emaci, *fond of bargaining/ 'hig- 
gling/ V. 29 *qua tu mercede deorum 
Emeris auriculas?' Casaubon comp. Hor. 
3 Od. 29. 59 * ad miseras preces Decurrere, 
et vqHs pacisci* Jahn comp. Plato 
Euthyph. p. 14 £ i/iwopifeij dpa rit &y fttf 
riyyri ^ dtridrrjt 0€oit /cal aySpitfroit trap' 

4. seductis. 6. 42 *paullum a turba 
seduetior audi.' Casaubon refers to Sen. 
£p. 41 for the statement that worshippers 
used to get the temple-keeper to allow 
them access to the ears of the statues, 
that they might be able to be heard 
better. * Facis rem optimam et tibi salu- 
tarem, si, ut scribis, perseveras ire ad 
bonam mentem, quam stultum est optare, 
cum possis a te impetrare. Non sunt ad 
caelum elevandae manus, nec exorandus 
aedituus ut nos ad aures simulacri, quasi 
magis exaudiri possimus, admittat.' 

5. *At bona pars hominum' Hor. i S. 
I. 61. 

libabit, is used to do, and therefore 
will do, will be found to do. Jahn comp. 
Juv. 8. 182 *quae Turpia cerdoni, Vole- 
sos Brutumque decehunt* * Farre pio et 
plena supplex veneratur acerra ' Virg. Aen. 

5. 745. 



38 



PERSII 



haud cuivis promptum est murmurque humilisque susurros 

tollere de templis et aperto vivere voto. 

^Mens bona, fama fides' haec clare et ut audiat hospes; 

illa sibi introrsum et sub lingua murmurat ^o si 

ebulliat patruus^ praeclarum fiinus!' et ^o si 

sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro 

Hercule 1 pupillumve utinam, quem proximus heres 

inpello, expungam! namque est scabiosus et acri 

bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia ducitur uxor.* 

haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gui^te mergis 

mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas. 

heus age, responde — minimum est quod scire laboro — 



lO 



•S 



6. baui, prumpium. lo. EhuUUpatns, 13. expungas. nam et est. 

14. eondiior. 1 7. po6t minimum q, eras. 



6. *N<m euivii homiiii contingit' Hor. 

I Ep. 17. 36. *Formam optat modieo 
pueris, maiore puellis marmure* Juv. 10. 
389. Clem. Alez. Strom. 4. 26. § 173 is 
referred to by Casaubon as giving the 
Pythagorean nile lurdL ipcn^i cvxc<'^> 

7. *nec voto Tivitur uno* 5. 53. vi- 
vere refers to daily pnyers for daily 
blessings. 

8. Imitated from Hor. l Ep. 16. 57 sqq. 
The seeret prayer in Persius is more * bona 
fide/ and consequently more disguised than 
in Horace, who apparentiy merely means 
that while the worshipper asks the gods 
for one thing his heart is set on another. 
Possibly Mens bona, Fama, Fides are 
not things prayed for, but persons, iike 
Janus and Apollo, Hor. 1. c. Casaubon 
refers to Prop. 4. 34. 19 *Mens Bona, 

II qua Dea es, tua me in sacraria dono/ 
and inscriptions ' Menti Bonae' are given 
in the Berlin Corpus Inscriptionum, i. 
nos. 1167, 1168, 1237. See Preller's 
Romische Mythologie, p. 628, note 2. 
Against this may be urged that no gods 
are particularised in the secret prayer, like 
Lavema Hor. 1. c, with the incidental ex- 
ception of Hercules. What *mens bona' 
is is explained by Sen. (quoted by the 
Delphin editor and Jahn) Ep. 10 * Roga 
bonam mentem, bonam valetudinem animi, 
deinde tunc corporis' (nearly Juvenal's 
* mens sana in corpore sano' 10. 356), 
Ep. 16 * Perseverandum est et assiduo stu- 



dio robur addendnm» donec bona mens 
sit, quod bona volnntas est,' — *health of 
mind.' 

hospes, *a stranger,' *so that any 
one may hear.' 

9. sub lingua is compared by Casau- 
bon to vw* &B6irra. 

10. ebuUiat is restored by Jahn and 
Heinr. for 'ebuUit,' the reading of most 
MSS., which used to be ezplained as a 
contraetion of * ebullierit.' The synizesis 
is questioned by Lucian MtUler, De Re 
Metrica, p. 256. The fuU expression is 
'ebullire (scfflare) animam' (Sen. Apo- 
colocynt. 4). 

patruns Orelli, Heinr. Jahn, from 
some MSS. The majority have * patrui,' 
which seems to be a correction made 
by those who did not understand * ebul- 
liat.' 

praeclarum funus is meant to 
bear the double sense * a glorious (wd- 
come) death' and *a «plendid ftmeraL' 
Jahn comp. Prop. 1. 17. 8 * Haeccine parva 
mcom/unus arena teget?' Virg. Aen. 9. 
486, 7 *Qcc te tuafunera mater Produxi.' 
Heinr. makes * fimus ' cogn. acc. to * ebul- 
liat.' Comp. Juv. 6. 560, where the wife 
asks the astrologer 'quando sororem £f- 
ferat et patruos* 

11. * O si umam argenti fors quae mihi 
monstret .... dives amico Hercule' Hor. 
2 S. 6. 10. Casaubon makes a distinc- 
tion between Hermes, as the bestower of 



SAT. IL 



39 



ready to do away with muttering and whispering from our temples, 
and live in the use of prayers to which all may listen. * Sound 
mind, good report, credit ' — so much is said aloud even in a 
stranger's hearing, the rest he mutters to himself under his breath, 
* O that my uncle would go off in a splendid obituary. O that 
I could hear a crock of silver chinking under my harrow, byt the 
blessing of Hercules — or that I might strike out my ward, on 
whose heels I tread as next in succession, so full of scrofula and 
acrid bile as he ' is already I There is Nerius actually manying 
his third wife ! ' It is to make prayers like these piously, that 
you duck your head every morning twice and three times in the 
Tiber, and wash oiF the night in the running water. 

Come, now, tell me, the question is the merest trifle : What is 



windfalls found on the way, and Hercules, 
as the patron of treasures that are sought 
for. There was a custom at Rome 
(Preller, Romische Mjrth. p. 652) to con- 
secrate a tenth part of gains to Hercules 
as wXouToioTfjt. 

la. 'Non fraudem socio, puerove in- 
cogitat ullam Pupillo* Hor. 2 Ep. 1. 132. 
The man here does not compass his 
ward*s death, but only prays for it. The 
Twelve Tables provided that where no 
guardian was appointed by will, the nezt 
of kin would be guardian, and he would 
of course be heir. *Agnatus proximus 
tutelam nancitor.' 

15. inpello, y. 59, *nnda inpellitur 
unda* Ov. M. 15. 181, equivalent to 
•urgeo/ 'insto/ *premo.* Jahn comp. 
Lncan. l. 149 Mnpellens quidquid sibi 
summa petenti Obstaret.' 

expungam from the tablets of the 
will. He wishes he may have the plea- 
sure of striking the name out, as that of a 
person deceased. 

acri bile. SfHfAfta x^M» Casaubon, 
referring to Chrysost. Hom. in Matth. 63 
' It is not much to grant, a great part has 
been done alreMly ; the gods in fact seem 
to have contemplated his death, and it 
would be such a releasef Casaubon 
quotes Juv. 6. 565 *Consulit ictericae 
lento de fimere matris.' 

14. tumet. * turgescit vitrea bilis ' 3. 
8; *mascula bilis Intumuit' 5. 145. 

Nerius is the usurer mentioned by 
Hor. 2 S. 3. 69. Persius borrows not only 
his images but his names from Horace, 
e. g. Pedius i. 85, Craterus 3. 65, Bestius 
^* 37« not unnatural in a young and prob- 



ably reduse writer, who must have 
formed his notions of life as much from 
books as from experience. 

For ducitur many MSS. give *con- 
ditur,* perhaps, as Jahn thinks, from a 
confbsion of this passage with Mart. 10. 
43. Serv. on Virg. G. 4. 256 explains 
* ducitur * * is carried out to burial,' 
but Mucitur uxor' can only have one 
meaning, and the words properly under- 
stood express the sense which Servius 
wishes, only with more skill. * Nerius is 
just marrying a tbird time (has just buried 
his seeond).* 

15. haec, emphatic. 'It is to ask for 
tbis with pure lips.' 

Tiberino sqq. *IlloMane die quo 
tu indicis ieiunia, nudus In Tiberi stabit' 
Hor. 2 S. 3. 290. * Ter matutino Tiberi 
mergetur, et ipsis Vorticibus timidum 
caput abluet' Juv. 6. 523. 

16. * Ac primum pura somnum tibi 
discute lympha' Prop. 4. 10. 13. Comp. 
Virg. Aen. 8. 69, where Aeneas on rising 
dips his hands in the Tiber. 

noctem . . . purgas, like 'totum se- 
mel expiet annum' Juv. 6. 521. 

17-30. *Let them only try the experi- 
ment of taking the least divine of their 
acquaintance and saying to him what they 
say to Jupiter, he would at once cry shame 
on them. The gods indeed do not take 
vengeance inmiediately, but that is no 
proof that such prayers are forgiven, un- 
iess we are to suppose that the sacrifice — 
what a sacrificel — makes the difference, 
and acts as a bribe.' 

17. *scire laboro' Hor. i Ep. 3' 2, 
*nosse laboro' 2 S. 8. 19. 



40 



PERSII 



de love quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures 
hunc — cuinam? cuinam? vis Staio? an scilicet haeres? 
quis potior iudex, puerisve quis aptior orbis? 
hoc igitur, quo tu lovis aurem inpellere temptas, 
dic agedum Staio, 'pro luppiter! o bone* clamet 
^luppiter!* at sese non clamet luppiter ipse? 
ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex 
sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque? 
an quia non fibris ovium Ergennaque iubente 
triste iaces lucis evitandumque bidental^ 
idcirco stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam 
luppiter? aut quidnam est, qua tu mercede deorum 
emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis? 

Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis 
exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella 



20 



25 



30 



18. aiut. 



19. iaio. 



22. taio. 



a6. ergannaq. 



18. ett nt a'perhaps.' * Est nt Tiro vir 
Utiut ordiaet Arbusta sulcis' Hor. 3 Od. 
1.9. 

19. Some MSS. give ' cuiquam/ which 
was the reading of the old editions, and is 
recalled bj Heinr., who points 'Hunc 
cuiquam?' •Cuinam vis?' *Staio.' The 
Schol. identifies *Staius' with Staienus 
(or Stalenus), who was one of the judges 
in the triai of Oppianicus (Cic. pro 
Cluent.); the old commentators, taking 
the hint, confound him with Oppianicus 
himself. Jahn, who rejects the storj, 
supposes Persius to have meant some re- 
spectable man of the daj, but 7. 20 looks 
▼ery like a sarcasm not only on the wor- 
shipper, who is assumed to have qualms, 
but on Staius himself. 

scilicet. ' Do jou mean to saj 
that jou ha^e any hesitation?' 

ao. The meaning may either be 
*Who can be a better judge, or more 
suitable guardian?' or * Who can be better 
or more suitable as a judge in a case be- 
tween orphans and their guardian ? ' 
Plaut. explains orbis * crbus proprie di- 
dtur qui lumen oculorum amisit, quasi 
amissis orWms propter rotunditatem ocu- 



lomm.' 

21. inpellere»'percutere.' *Mater- 
nas inpuUt auris Luctus Aristaei' Virg. 
G. 4. 349. ' Arrectasque inpulit aures 
Confusae sonus urbis' Aen. 12. 618. Jahn 
and Konig. 

22. 'Agedum concede' Lucr. 3. 962. 
' Agedum, sume hoc ptisanarium oryzae ' 
Hor. 2 S. 3. 155. 

dic . .. clamets*si dices, clamabit' 
Heinr. 

23. 'Maxime, quis non, luppiter, ex- 
clamat simul atque audivit?' Hor. i S. 2. 
1 7. Persius may also have been thinking 
of I S. I. 20 *Quid caussae est, merito 
quin illis luppiter ambas Iratus buccas in- 
flet, neque se fore posthac Tam facilem 
dicat, votis ut praebeat aurem ? ' 

24. The details intended to be pre- 
sented appear to be these. The guilty 
worshipper is in a sacred grove during a 
thunderstorm ; the lightning strikes not 
him, but one of the sacred trees ; and he 
congratulates himself on his escape, — ^with- 
out reason, as Persius tells him. The 
circumstances are precisdy those used by 
Lucretius to enforce his sceptical argu- 
ment, 6. 390 ' Cur quibus incautum scelus 



SAT. II. 



41 



your view of Jupiter? May I assume that you would think of 
putting him above — *Above whom?' Whom? Oh, shall we say 
Staius ? You hesitate ? as if there could be a better judge or a 
more desirable guardian for orphan children ? Well, then, just 
say to Staius the prayer which you wish to have an eflFect on the 
ear of Jupiter. 'Jupiter,' he would call out, 'gracious Jupiterl' 
And won't Jupiter call out his own name, think you? Do you 
suppose he has ignored all, because when it thunders the sacred 
bolt rives the oak rather than you and your house ? or because 
you are not this moment lying in that forest, by order of Ergenna 
and the sheep's liver, a sad trophy of vengeance for men to turn 
from, is that a reason why Jupiter is to give you his stupid beard 
to puU ? or what is the price you pay for the ears of the gods ? 
a dishfull of lungs and greasy chitterlings ? 

Look here — a grandmother or a superstitious aunt has taken 
baby from his cradle, and is charming his forehead and his slavering 



aversabile cumque est Non faciunt 1[sc. 
DiW) icti flammas ut fulguris halent Pec- 
tore perfixo, documen mortalibus acre?' 
ib. 416 ' Postremo, cur sancta Deum de- 
lubra, suatque Diseutit infesto praeclaras 
fulmine sedes?' 

25. 'Aetherioque nocens fumavit 51//- 
pure femim' Lucan. 7. 160. 

domus. The family of the criminal 
share his fate, ^vfjtfidpiffas dKiffei ytvtifv, 
Kot oIkov &iravra Oracle Hdt. 6. 86. 

26. Prop. 5. 1. 104 *Aut sibi commissos 
Jihra locuta Deos.* 

Ergenna, an Etruscan name like 
Porsenna, Sisenna, Perpenna, Heinr. ' Pro- 
digiosa iides et Tuscis digna libellis* Juv. 
13. 62 («'digna procuratione *) Mayor*s 
note. Konig is wrong in sa^dng that this 
line in construction follows *evitandum.' 
Persius, to make the picture more vivid, 
fizes not on the moment of death, but on 
the time when the corpse is lying dead 
and the augur pronouncing on it. The 
corpse and the place where it feli, which 
was railed off and held sacred, are identi- 
fied. ' Hominem ita exanimatum cremare 
fas non est, condi terra religio tradidit' 
Plin. 2. 54 (55). 

27. *Triste bidental Moverit incestus' 
Hor. A. P. 471. 

lucis. *Tu parum castis inimica 
mittes Fulmina lucis* Hor. i Od. 12. 60. 
See Freund v. ' bidental/ 

28. vellere barbam, 1. 133. Comp. 
the story of the Gaul and Papirius. The 



images of the gods had beards, v. 58. 
There may also be an allusion to the 
mode of supplication by taking hold of 
the beard (II. 10. 454). 

29. Quidnam est ea merces, qua, etc. 
aut puts another case, like *aut ego 
fallor * = * nisi fallor.* 

30. Jahn explains emere auriculas 
on the analogy of *praebere* or *dare 
aurem,' to which he might have added 
'commodare* Hor. i Ep. i. 40. 

pulmone, etc. Comp. Juv. 10. 354 
'Ut tamen et poscas aliquid, voveasque 
sacellis Exta et candiduli divina tomacuia 
porciy 13. 115 *Aut cur In carbone tuo 
charta pia tura soluta Ponimus, et seetum 
vituli iecur albaque porci Omentat* where 
the details are mentioned contemptuously 
as here. - 

lactibus. ' Ab hoc ventriculo lactes 
in homine et ove, per quas labitur cibus : 
in ceteris hillae* Plin. 11. 37 (79). 

31-40. * No better are the siliy prayers 
of o!d women for new-born children— 
that the darlings may be rich and marry 
princesses. They know not what they 
ask.* 

31. Ecce, I. 30. 

metuens divum, a translation of 
d€iffiBaSfjuuv, * Mater delira .... Quone 
malo mentem concussa ? timore deorum ' 
Hor. 2 S. 3. 295. 

matertera. 'Amita est patris soror; 
matertera est matris soror * Paul. Dig. 38. 
10. 10. 4. 



42 



PERSII 



iniami digito et lustralibus ante salivis 
expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita; 
tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto 
nimc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis 
^hunc optet generum rex et r^na! puellae 
hunc rapiant! quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat!' 
ast ego nutrici non mando vota: negato, 
luppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rc^arit. 

Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae. 
esto age ; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa 
adnuere his superos vetuere lovemque morantur. 

Rem struere exoptas caeso bove Mercuriumque 
arcessis fibra 'da fortunare Penatis, 



35 



40 



45 



35. post tnambtu in eras. et in ras. quatit. 
40. rogdbtt. ^i.patenae. 



37. Nunc optet, 
45. furttauare. 



33. infami — 'medio.' * Mediumque 
osteaderet unguem' Juv. 10. 53 Mayor's 
note. The Mnfamis digitus' was chosen 
as having more power against fascination 
on that very account. Jahn. 

lustralibus. The eighth day, if the 
child were a girl, the nintb if a boy, was 
called *dies histralis' or Mustiicus:' the 
infant was then purified and named. 
Festus, p. 120 Miill. Comp. Suet. Nero 6. 

saiivis ezpiat. * In hominis saliva 
vim esse adversus veneficia et foscina- 
tiones' Plin. 28. 4. 22, quoted by Lubin. 
' Moz turbatum sputo pulverem anus 
medio sustulit digito frontemque repug- 
nantis signat' Petr. 131;. Comp. the cus- 
tom of spitting into the lap to avert 
fascination. Juv. 7. iii Mayor's note. 

34. ' Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi 
fascinat agnos* Virg. Ecl. 3. 103. *Non 
istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quis- 
quam Limat' Hor. l £p. 14. 37. 

urentis is rightly ezplained by the 
Delph. ed. as * withering * or * blasting.' 
Jahn comp. Plut. Quaest. Sympos. 5. i 
yiyv^ffKOfuv yd^ dyOp&ntom r^ KarafiKi' 
vdv rd fnubla fidXtora fiX&trrovra»^ 
vypSTTfTi rrjt l^eo» nat dff0€VfUf rpfwo' 
fiivrjt hf^ ainSiv kojL xivovfAivrj» kvi t6 
Xt^pov. 

35. manibus quatit. Casaubon comp. 
Hom. II. 6. 474 aifT^p ty* tv <plkov vl6v 



Ivc2 tcwrt vifXf rc x^P^*^* ETvcv lrcv£a- 
fitvoe Aif r* SXkoiaiv re 0(oi<n. 

spem macram, etc. Comp. Juv. 
14. 146 *Nocte boves tnacri lassoque 
fiunelica collo lumenta ad virides hoius 
tnittenttar aristas.' She speeds him thither 
by the force of her wish, and then tums 
him loose to fatten himself. The Delph. 
ed. comp. Virg. Aen. ii. 46 *Cum me 
complezus euntem Mitteret in magnum 
imperium.' 

With voto . . mittit comp. Hor. i 
£p. 14. 41 ' Horum tu in numerum voto 
rttist* 

36. ' Quorum nomina cum Crasso Lici- 
noque numerantur' Sen. £p. 120. 20. 
Comp. Juv. I. 109 Major's note, ib, 14. 
305 sqq., and see Dict. Biogr. 

37. * Multi illum pueri, multae optavere 
puellae* Catull. 62. 42, referred to by 
Konig. 

optet is restored by Jahn from the 
best MSS. instead of the vulg. * optent,' 
which may be a correction, though it is 
perhaps as probable that the singdar is a 
blunder. 

rez et regina is ezplained by Jahn 
from I. 67, where see note: but the 
words in the mouth of an old woman are 
more likely to be general, though there 
were no * king and queen ' at Rome. 

38. rapiant seems to imply that the 



SAT. II. 



43 



lips against mischief by the joint action of her middle finger and 
her purifying spittle ; for she knows right well how to check 
the evil eye. Then she dandles him in her arms and packs off 
the pinched little hope of the family, so far as wishing can do it, 
to the domains of Licinus or the palace of Crassus. * May he be 
a catch for my lord and lady's danghter ! May the pretty ladies 
scramble for himl May the ground he walks on turn to a rose- 
bed I ' But / will never trust a nurse to pray for me or mine ; 
good Jupiter, be sure to refuse her, though she may have put on 
white for the occasion. 

You ask reinforcement for your physical strength, and a body 
to stand you in stead in old age. So far so good — go on; but 
your great dishes and thick gravies have laid an injunction on 
the gods not to grant it, and clog tbe gracious purposes of 
Jupiter. 

You aim at increasing your wealth by sacrificing oxen, and serve 
a sununons on Mercuiy in the shape of liver. * Grant that my 



tables are to be turned, and that instead 
of his running aS with them, they are to 
run off with him. Casaubon comp. the 
similar use of &prr6,(€iv and of * diripere/ 
* Editum librum continuo mirari homines 
et diripere coeperunt' Life of Persius. 

quidquid, etc. Casaubon comp. 
Claud. I Seren. 89 ' Quocunque per her- 
bam Reptares, fluxere rosae.' 

39. * Quid voveat dulci nutricula maius 
alumno/ etc. Hor. I Ep. 4. 6 sqq. Horace 
regards the prayers of a nurse more ap- 
provingly than Persius, having a higher 
opinion of her good sense. Seneca (£p. 
60, quoted by Casaubon) agrees with 
PersiuSy 'Etiamnum optas quod tibi op- 
tavit nutrix, aut paedagogus aut mater ? 
Nondum intellegis quantum mali optave- 
rint?* comp. ib. Ep. 32, Juv. 14. ao8. 

40. * Though she ask it with every 
requisite form/ v. 15. albata. * Casta 
placent superis: pura cum veste venite' 
TibuU. 2. 1. 13. 

41-51. ' One man prays for health and 
long life — a blessing doubtless — ^but one 
which be cannot have, being a glutton. 
Another actually ruins himself by the 
costliness of his sacrifices, while sdl the 
time bis object is to ebtain an increase to 
his possessions — and goes on spending and 
hoping to the last.' 

41. Poscit opem is a common enough 
phrase, and nervis is added as the party 
for whom the blessing is sought. 



senectae may either be constructed 
with • poscis/ like *nervis/ or with •fidele/ 
which is Casaubon's view — * corpus cui 
suae vires permaneant ad senectam usque.' 
42. ' Grandes rhombi patinaeque Grande 
ferunt una cum damno dedecus/ Hor. 2 S. 
^•95* * grandes ' Jahn, from the best 
MSS., vulg. ' pingues.' 

tucceta. Arnobius a. 42 talks of 
*glacialia (glaciali?) condicione tucceta/ 
and the word has been introduced con- 
jecturally by some editors in 7. 24 of the 
same author. The Scholiast makes ' tuc- 
cetum' a GrauUsh word, of the same origin 
with the proper nanie 'Tucca,* and de- 
scribes it as beef steeped in a thick gravy, 
which enables it to keep a year. 

43. adnuere with the dative of the 
thing countenauced. ' Audacibus adnue 
coeptis ' Virg. G. i. 40. 

vetuere implies that the restraining 
cause had anticipated the prayer, and pre- 
vented its taking effect. Diog. Laert. 6. 
2. 28, quoted by Jahn, relates of Diogenes 
the cynic, kiciv^i avrbv rh 0^€iv roi» 0€oi9 
vw^p vyi€uUt ^v airj 8i rf Bvffiq, jcard 
T^» vyifiat B€irrv€tv. 

44. Rem struere *to increase your 
wealth/ *acervo quem strvit* Hor. i S. 

I. 35- 

Mercurium, note on v. 11., 6. 62. 

45. arcessis stronger than ' vocas/ 
*summon,' as implying a command, and 
one that will be obeyedi so that herc it is 



44 



PERSII 



da pecus et gregibus fetum!' quo, pessime, pacto, 
tot tibi cum in flammas iunicum omenta liquescant? 
et tamen hic extis et opimo vincere ferto 
intendit ^iam crescit ager, iam cresdt ovile, 
iam dabitur, iam iam!' donec deceptus et ezspes 
nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo. 
Si tibi crateras argenti incusaque pingui 
auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laevo 
excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor. 
hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ovato 
perducis facies; nam fratres inter aenos 



50 



55 



48. Attamtm, 



54. Exeutias, 



Vfed rhetoricallj, to express the confidence 
of tbe wonhipper. The reference is to 
the pmmce o( the gods, as Jahn remarks. 

45. fibra (y. 20) is said in the same 
spirit as * pahnone et lactibns nnctis ' ▼. 30. 

fortunare is nsed absolutely, as in 
Afranius ap. Non. sub v.. quoted by Jahn, 
* Deos ego omncs nt fortunassini precor/ 
the subj. to 'fortunare* being 'penates.' 
' Fortuno/ as Jahn remarks, is a * vox 
sollennis ' in prayers, being invariably used 
of the gods. ' Tu quamcunque Deus tibi 
fortunaveril horam Grata sume manu ' 
Hor. I Ep. II. 22. 

Penatis, as gods of the 'penus/ the 
domestic store. ' Cura penum struere et 
flammis adolere penatis * Virg. Aen. i. 704. 

46. * Si fetura gregetn snppleverit * Virg. 
Ecl. 7. 36. *Quo pacto, pessime' Hor. 
2 S. 7. 22. 

47. Imitated from CatuU. 90. 6 'Omen- 
tum in flanmia pingue liquefaciens.' 

iunix (*iuvenix/ •iuvencu8*)«s*iu- 
venca.' Plaut. Mil. 2. 3. 33. 

48. *He strains evety nerve to win/ 
increasing his sacrifices as bis means de- 
crease. extis et.. ferto contemptuously, 
^* 3^> 45« J^^ explains ' fertum ' from 
Festus sub v. and Cato R. R. 134, 141 as 
a kind of cake, which was frequently 
oifered (* obmovebatur ') in sacrifice, coupled 
with * strues * in the tables of the Fratres 
Arvales 32, 42. * A ferendo * Schol. 

49- Juv. 5. 166, *Ecce dabit iam Se- 
mesum leporem atque aliquid de clunibus 
apri : Ad nos iam veniet minor altilis.' 



50. Jahn, following Nebrissensis, whom 
he docs not name, ingenionsly changes the 
punctuation, * donec deceptus et exspes, 
Nequiquam fundo, suspiret, nummus in 
imo!* *deceptus' being the man, and 
* Nequiquam fundo nummus in imo 1 ' 
(=B*iiequiquam profundi opes meas') the 
words of his lament. But the old stopping 
is at once more obvious and more spirit- 
ed, the last coin (* nummus '=* sestertins ') 
having been cheated into parting with its 
brethrcn by the promise that it should see 
them again and many more besides, and 
now sighing to find itself left quite alone 
without any more hope. Casaubon com- 
pares Hesiod's Works and Days, 369 SccXi^ 
8' iwl wu$itan <^M (imitated by Sen. 
Ep. 1. 5 *Sera parsimonia in fando est :') a 
parallel rather unfavourable to Jahn's punc- 
tuation, which calls attention more to the 
money expended than to the remainder. 
*Nummi' are similarly personified 5. 149 
*Quid petis? ut nummi, quos hic quin- 
cunce modesto Nutrieras, pergant avidos 
sudare deunces?' 

52-75. * To receive a present of gold 
or silver is the summit of human pleasure. 
Tbence men conclude that the gods must 
value it too, and accordingly gild the sta- 
tues of those wbom they find most propi- 
tious — so tbat now gold supersedes every- 
thing else in our temples. Miserable 
blindness of earthly grovellers 1 as if pam- 
pered flesh were a measure of the desires 
of heaven I Luxury may be excused for 
her refinements, though they are so many 



SAT. 11. 



45 



household gods may prosper me : grant me cattle and a teeming 
season for my flocks ! * On what terms, pray, most wretched of 
creatures, when the fat of so many of your bullocks is melting 
into the fire? Yet the man strains every nerve to gain his end 
by entrails and rich puddings. * Now my lands are getting 
broader ; now my fold is widening ; now I shall get it — now — 
now :' till at last, disappointed and despairing, the solitary coin 
sighs unavailingly at the bottom of the chest. 

If I were to present you with cups of silver, chased with orna- 
ments of thick gold, you would be all perspiration, and your heart 
in a flutter of joy would force out heart-drops from your left breast. 
This it is which has suggested it to you to give the faces of the 
gods a coating of triumphal gold. 'Among the brazen brethren, 



sins against nature : at any rate she has 
the enjoyment of them: but will any 
priest tell me that the gods can care for 
such things ? No» give me that which no 
wealth can buy, — an honest, purc, and ge- 
nerous heart, and thc cheapest oblation will 
suiiice.' 

52. crateros from *cratcra* Hor. 3 
Od. 18. 7., a S. 4. 80. 

incusa is a translation of ifiwcuffrd 
(Casaubon), ifivaiariK^ "^^xyv heing the 
art of embossing silver or some other 
material with golden ornaments (' cru- 
stae'or 'emblemata'). Hence *crateras 
argenti incusaque dona* is probably a 
hendiadys. 

pingui, opposed to *Ievi* or *tenui,* 
as the thickness of the gold would consti- 
tute its value. Can there be a reference 
to * pingui munere* Hor. 2 Ep. l 267 ? 

53. dona feram,Virg. G. 3. 22, CatuU. 

64- 34. 

sudes. Casaubon reiers to Aspasia 

ap. Athen. 5. 219 C tc&yui Srroat ijtcovca 

X^P^ ^^ <fojfja Ktmdvca ^lhpSni. 

pectore laevo, Maeva parte mamil- 

lae Nil salit Arcadico iuveni * Juv. 7. 1 59. 

54. excutias was preferred by Jahn in 
his edition of 1843, but he has since 
adopted * excutiat,* which is supported by 
one of the oldest MSS. and by some others, 
and seems required by the relation between 

• laevo pectore * and * cor.* 

guttas, *tears* or 'sweat'? Heinr. says 
the latter, and it seems simpler. Juv. i. 
167 *tacita sudant praecordia culpa* 

I a et a r i , construed with *praetrepidum,' 

• overhasty to rejoice,* Hor. a Od. 4. 24 * Cu- 
ius octavum trepidavit aetas Claudere lus- 
tnim.* Catull. 46. 7 ' lam nwts praetrepi- 



dans avet vagari.' Compare * praelargus ' 
1. 14. 

55. * Hence it is that it has occurred to 
you to,* etc. * subiit cari genitoris imago ' 
Virg. Aen. 2. 560. *animum (mentem)' 
or 'animo' sometimes expressed after 
*subiit,* sometimes omitted. Compare 
*succurrit* Aen. 2. 317. ^ . 

illud subiit quod, otherwise ex- 
pressed by the impersonal with an infi- 
nitive, *misereri sortis humanae subit' 
Plin, 25. 3. 7. Compare Ov. Trist. 3. 8. 
38 * Quid sim quid fiierimque subit.* The 
final syllable of the third person perf. sing. 
of the compounds of * eo ' (* abiit,* * adiit,* 
etc.) is frequently lengthened by the poets, 
espedally by Ovid. 

sacer, used of the gods themselves, 
not merely of things consecrated to them ; 
* sacrae Vestae' Prop. 4. 4. II, * sacrae Cy- 
belae ' 4. 22. 3. 

ovato auro, like * triumphatum au- 
rum * Ov. ex Ponto 2. i. 41. Jahn. The 
epithet may mark the unjust acquisition 
of the gold offered to heaven, as Madan 
thinks, Juv. 8. 1 00. 

56. perducis. *Quo totum nati cor- 
pus perduxit' Virg. G. 4. 416. For the 
custom of gilding statues compare Juv. 
13. 151 *Radat inaurati femur Herculis, 
etfaciem ipsam Neptuni, qui bratteolam 
de Castore ducat.* 

fratres.. aenos it understood by Jahn 
of the gods generally, after Lubin and 
Famaly. The traditional explanation at- 
tributed by the Scholiast to Acron, that 
the brethren are the sons of Acgyptus, 
statues of whom stood in the open air 
opposite to thosc of the Danaides in the 
portico of the Palatine ApoUo, breaks 



46 



PERSII 



somnia pituita qui purgatissima mittunt, 
praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba. 
aurum vasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera 
Vestalisque urnas et Tuscum fictile mutat. 
o curvae in terris animae et caelestium inanis ! 
quid iuvat hos templis nostros inmittere mores 
et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa? 
haec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo, 
haec Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus^ 
haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere venas 



60 



6S 



57. mitteni. 



59. aere superscr. a. 



63. boc. 



down from want of evidence of the exist- 
ence of any such statues, (those of the 
Danaides being frequently mentioned, as 
by Prop. 3. 23. 4, who narrates the open- 
ing of the portico,) as well as from the 
absence of any reason why they should 
preside over dreams. The SchoIiast's other 
fancy, thatlCastor and Pollux are meant, 
is refiited by the words of the passage, 
which clearly points» as Casaubon ob- 
serves, to more than two. 

57. *DuIcia se in bilem vertent, stomach- 
oque tumultum Lenta feret pUuita ' Hor. 
2 S. 2. 75. Persins doubtless means that 
those dreams which are ireest from the 
gross humours of the body are Ukely to be 
truest — possibly he may also mean that 
those which are traceable to ezcess are 
ipsofacto discredited as divine communi- 
cations. Cicero however (De Div. 2. 58 
foll.) and Lucretius (4. 907 foll.) in ac- 
counting for dreams naturally, make no 
use of this argument. Possibly there may 
be some point in * pituita ' in the mouth 
of a Stoic. Cicero I. c. says, * Stmci autem 
tui negant quemquam nisi sapientem divi- 
num esse posse/ and goes on to explain 
Chrysippus' views of the matter: while 
Horace reminds the Stoic (i Ep. i. 108) 
that phlegm is a drawback to the perfect 
sanity of the ' sapiens.' It does not ap- 
pear that Persius refers particularly to the 
custom of sleeping in temples with a view 
to procure dreams. Jahn. 

58. Cic. N. D. 3. 34 tells of Dionysius 
'Aesculapii Epidaurii barbam auream 
demi iussit, neque enim convenire barba- 
tum esse filium, cum in omnibus fanis pater 
imberbis esset.' 



59. These vasa Numae were called 
' capedines' and * simpuvia ' Cic. Parad. l. 
3 * Quid ? Numae Pompilii minusne gra- 
tas Dis immortalibus capedines ae fictiles 
umulas fiiisse quam filicatas aliorum pate- 
ras arbitramur?' Juv. 6. 343 * Simpuvinm 
ridere Numae nigrumque catinum, £t 
Vaticano fragiles de monte patellas.' They 
appear to have been bowls or dishes of 
some Idnd. 

Saturnia .. aera. The Scholiast, 
followed by Casaubon and Jahn, explains 
this of the use of brass coin, which was 
supposed to be connected with tke early 
reign of Satum in Italy; Janus, the first 
coiner, according to tiie legend, having 
stamped one side of the coin with his 
own head, the other with a ship, to com- 
memorate the landing of Satum (Macrob. 
Sat. i): a connection fiirther pointed to 
by the fact that the aerarium was in the 
temple of Satum (Varro L. L. 5. 183). 
The ' vasa Numae,' however, would rather 
have led us to ezpect that the * Saturnia 
aera ' were temple fumiture of some kind : 
and so the words are ezplained by the 
older commentators, who however are 
evidently merely guessing from the con- 
text. With the general sentiment com- 
pare Prop. 5. I. 5 * Fictilibus crevere deis 
haec aurea templa.* Juv. 11. 115 * Hanc 
rebus Latiis cnram praestare solebat Fic- 
tilis et nullo violahts lupiter auro* 

inpulit, 'has pushed out,' v. 13 note. 

60. 'The Vestals used ums of pottery. 
Konig compares Ov. F. 3. 1 1 sqq., Jahn, 
Val. Maz. 4. 4. Ii. 

Tuscum fictile. 'An quia ez Etra- 
riae figulinis Romam afferretur ? . . an eo 



SAT. 11. 



47 



let those who send us dreams of nights most free from gross 
humours rank first in honour, and have a golden beard given 
them.' Yes, gold has driven out Numa's crockery and the brass 
of good old Satum ; it supersedes the Vestal ums and the Etrus- 
can pottery. O ye souls that cleave to earth and have nothing 
heavenly in you ! how can it answer to introduce the spirit of the 
age into the temple-service, and infer what the gods like firom 
this sinful pampered flesh of ours? The flesh it is that has got 
to spoil wholesome oil by mixing casia with it — to steep Calabrian 
wool in purple that was made for no such use ; that has made 
us tear the pearl from the oyster, and separate the veins of the 



respicit, quod pleraque ad religionem spec- 
tantia habuenint Romani ab Etrascis?' 
(Casaubon.) Why not both ? 

6i. interras, for which Jahn restores 

* in terris,' is supported by one or two good 
MSS. and by Lactant. i D. a. 2, and is 
recommended by the sense. Jahn com- 
pares Hor. 2 S. 2. 77 'Affigit humo divinae 
particulam aurae :' but the language rather 
suggests such passages as Ov. Met. i. 84 

* Pronaque cum spectant/ etc, which the 
old commentators compare. 

inanes, with genitive, *inane lymphae 
Dolium fundo pereuntis imo' Hor. 3 Od. 
II. 26, quoted by Jahn. The expression 
' coelestium inanes ' resembles * Heu ste- 
riles veri* 5. 75. 

62. Jahn reads quid iuvat hoc from 
three good MSS.; but * hos nostros,' which 
is found in the great majority of MSS., 
including the oldest, is supported by * hac 
scelerata puipa,' * sapere nostrum hoc ' 6. 

38. 

nostros . . mores, * misce Ergo ali- 
quid nostris de moribus' Juv. 14. 322. 

* Mores,' as nsed by Roman authors, is a 
▼ery characteristic, and, almost by conse- 
quence, untranslatable word, answering 
more or less to several distinct though 
connected notions in English : * national 
character,' *institutions,' *traditions,' * spirit 
of the age,' and the like. Here we may 
perhaps render it views, 

templis. . inmittere is the opp. to 

* tollere dc templis ' v. 7. 

63. bona dis, to be taken together. 

* Campos militi Romano ad proelium bo- 
nos' 'Tac. Ann. 2. 14. Here it seems to 
stand for * ea quae dis bona videntur.' 

ducere, 'to dcduce, infer ;' *ex qua- 
tuor temporam mutationibus omnium. . 
■ initia caussaeque ducuntur ' Cic. N. D. 
2. 19. 



pulpa is a remarkable word, coin- 
ciding as it does with the Christian lan- 
guage about the flesh, especially when 
coupled with the epithet ' scelerata ;' ' caro 
moUis et enervis,' Jahn, who compares 
Auson. Epist 4. 93 *Nec fas est mihi 
regio magistro Pleheiam numeris docere 
pulpam* as if they were so much animal 
matter. • 

64. ' Alba nec Assyrio fucatur lana 
veneno, Nec casia liquidi corrumpitur usus 
olivi ' Virg. G. 2. 465. 

sibi, to gratify itself — pointing the 
contrast with * bona Dis.' 

65. Calabrum. Jahn quotes Colu- 
mella 7. 2 * Generis eximii Milesias, Cala- 
bras, Apulasque (lanas) nostri existima- 
bant, earumque optimas Tarentinas.' 

vitiato, *spoiIed,' because changed 
from its proper use. The evil done is 
brought out more forcibly when it is as- 
serted that botb the natural products suffer 
from the violation of their natures. In 
Hom. II. 4. 141, to which Jahn refers, 
fuaiveip probably only means to stain, 
though Virgil in his imitation (Aen. 12. 
67) has *violaverit ostro.* 

66. bacam, a common word for a 
pearl ; * diluit insignem bacam ' Hor. 2 S. 
3. 241, here used perhaps to indicate the 
relation of the pearl to the shell, as that 
of a berry to a tree. So * crudo de pul- 
vere* implies an intcrference with the 
processes of nature for the sake of luxury. 

* Auram irrepertum et sic melius situm, 
Cum terra celat * Hor. 3 Od. 3. 49. 

rasisse implies violence, such as was 
necessary to separate the pearl. *Crass- 
escunt etiam in senecta conchisque adhae- 
rescunt, nec his avelli queunt nisi lima* 
Plin. 9. 35. 54, quoted by Lubin. 

stringere, *to strip or tear,* likc 

* stringere folia, gladium,' etc, a 



48 



PERSII 



ferventis massae crudo de pulvere iussit. 
peccat et haec, peccat: vitio tamen utitur. at vos 
dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum? 
nempe hoc quod Veneri donatae a virgine pupae. 
quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance 
non possit magni Messallae lippa propago: 
conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus 
mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. 
haec cedo ut admoveam templis et farre litabo. 



70 



75 



69. teo. 



70. a om. 



ttronger word here than ' solvcre ' would 
be. Jahn remarks that this use of 
' stringere ' has nothing to do with the 
* strictura ferri ' (crS/AtMTu) or harden- 
ing mentioned by Virg. Aen. 8. 421, Plin. 
34. 14. 41. ' Strigilis * occurs Piin. 35. 3. 
19, as a Spanish term for a small piece of 
native gold — whether with reference to 
either of these uses of * stringo ' does not 
appear. 

67. massae, 5. 10, Virg. Aen. 8. 453, 
a lump of ore, containing both the * vena ' 
and the ' pulvis.' ^ 

crudus apparently ezpresses the na- 
tural state of the slag or scoria, as opposed 
to *coquere/ the process of fusing the 
metal. Plin. 33. 6. 31 has * crudaria vena 
argenti,' which Freund ezplains 'a vein 
iyine directly on the surface in a mine.' 

68. utitur, 'gets the beuefit of/ nearly 
synonymous witn * fruitur/ with which it 
is often coupled. * Utatur suis bonis opor- 
tet etfruatur, qui beatus futurus est' Cic. 
N.D. 1.37. 103. So*uUr'6. 22. 

69. * Recte pontifiee» compellat, pcnes 
quos omnium sacrorum cura, et a quibus 
sacerdotum omnium coUegia pendebant.' 
Casaubou. Whether *sacro' or *sancto* 
should be read is doubtfiil. The hitter, 



which Jahn adopts, is the reading of most 
MSS., but the former is found in some of 
the best, while others of the same class 
have * sco.' Lampridius (aj>. 293) quotes 
the passage, Alez. Sev. 44 *in sanctis 
q. f. a.' A few MSS. have ' templo :' ob- 
▼iously an inteijwetation. ' Sacrum sacrove 
commendatum qui depsit rapsitve parri- 
cida esto' Cic. Leg. 2. 9. 22, where *sacro* 
appears to mean a temple, like ifp6», 

quid facit *what is its business?' 
aImosts*quid prodest,' like 'plurimum 
facit ' Quinta. 6. 4. 8. 

70. 'Soiebant enim virgines antequam 
nuberent quaedam virginitatis suae dona 
Veneri consecrare, hoc et Varro scribit ' 
Scholiast. Jahn compares 5. 31 ' bullaque 
succinctis Larihus donaia pependit,' Konig 
Hor. I S. 5. 66 ' Donasset iamne catenam 
Ez voto Laribus.' So the sailor, Hor. i 
Od. 5. 16, hangs up the clothd, and the 
lover, 3 Od. 26. 3 foH., the harp, etc, with 
which he bas now done. 

71. ' Quin tu desinis ' 4. 14. 

de magna, etc. Jahn compares Ov. 
Ep. 4. 8. 39 ' Nec quae de parva dis pau- 
per libat acerra Tura minus grandi quam 
data lance valent.' ' Lancibus et pandis 
fumantia reddimus ezta' Virg. G. 2. 



SAT. IL 



49 



glowing ore from their primitive slag. It sins — yes, it sins; but 
it takes something by its sinning; but you, reverend pontiflFs, tell 
us vfhsLt good goid can do in a holy place. Just as much or 
as little as the dolls which a young girl offers to Venus. Give 
we rather to the gods such an offering as great Messalla's blear- 
eyed representative has no means of giving even out of his great 
dish — duty to God and man well blended in the mind, purity in 
the shrine of the heart, and a racy flavour of nobleness pervading 
the bosom. Let me have these to carry to the temple, and a 
handful of meal shall win me acceptance. 



194, probably the kind of ofieriQg glaDced 
at by Persius. With the ironical repetition 
^magna — magni' compare Hor. i S. 6. 
72 * Magni Quo pueri, magnis e centu- 
rionibus orti.' 'Porrectum magn6 mag- 
num spectare catino Vellem' Hor. a S. 
a.39. 

73. Messallae lippa propago. 'Cot- 
tam Messalinum dicit, qui tam vitiosos 
oculos in senectute habuit, ut palpebrae 
eius in exteriorem partem verterentur. 
Fuit enim et multis deditus vitiis 'Scholiast. 
L. Aurelius Cotta Messalinus was son of 
M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus (Hor. i S. 
10. 85, A. P. 371), and was adopted by 
his matemal uncle, L. Aurelius Cotta. He 
is mentioned more than oncc by Tacitus, 
who calls him (Ann. 6. 7) ' nobilis qui- 
dem, sed egens ob luxum, per flagitia in- 
famis/ and is enumerated by Plin. 10. 22. 
27 among famous epicures, so that Persius 
doubtless gives him the epithet 'lippus ' in 
order to note his excesses. 

73. * Fas et iura sinunt ' Virg. G. 1. 269, 
divine and human law. 

conpositum seems to mean harmo- 
nized or adjusted, so that each takes its 
proper place in the mind. 

sanptos, apparently a predicate, *tfae 
lecesses of the mind anstained.' 



recessus mentis, ^crwr t*^09, 
Theocr. 29. 3, Jahn. '£x adyto tan- 
quam cordis responsa dedere* Lucr. i. 

737. . ^ 

74. incoctum — *imbntum coxit v.05. 

honestum is Cicero's translation of 
rd iea\6y, defined by him, Fin. 2. 14. 45 
'honestum id intellegimus, quod tale est 
ut, detracta omni utilitate, sine uUis prae- 
miis fructibusve per se ipsum possit iure 
laudari/ here used with an epithet, as in 
Luoan. 2. 389 *rigidi servator honesti' 
quoted by Jalm. 

75. cedo. 'Cedo ut bibam' Plaut. 
Most. 2. I. 26, *cedo ut inspiciam' id, 
Curc. 5. 2. 54. 

admovere, a sacrifidal word. ' Nec 
nos sacrilegos iemplis admovimus ignes' 
Tib. 3. 5. II. * Admovitque pecus fla-^ 
grantibus aris' Virg. Aen. 12. 171 ; Tac. 
Ann. 2. 69 ; Suet. Cal. 32 ; Lucan i. 608, 
where see Cortius* note (Jahn), 7. 165. 
*Obmovere' was also used in the same 
sense : * ohmoveto pro admoveto dicebatur 
apud antiquos' Fest. p. 202, Miill. 

farre litabo, after Hor. 3 Od. 22. 
19 * MoIIivit aversos Penates Farre pio et 
saliente mica/ i. e. with the ' mola salsa.' 
* Mola tantum salsa litant qui non habent 
tura * Ph*n. praef. II. (Freund.) 



K 



SATURA III. 



^Nempe hoc adsidue' iam claruin mane fenestras 
intrat et angustas extendit lumine rimas: 
stertimus indomitum quod despumare Falemum 
sufficiat, quinta dum linea tangitur umbra. 
en quid agis? siccas insana canicula messes 
iam dudum coquit et patula pecus omne sub ulmo est/ 
unus ait comitum. ^verumne? itane? ocius adsit 
huc aliquis! nemon?' tui^esdt vitrea bilis: 
*findor' — ^ut Arcadiae pecuaria nidere dicas. 



An appeal to tbe young and well-ttMio, 
against slotb andfor earnestness — saitl By 
tbe Scboliast to be imitated from tbe ^b 
book ofLucilius, 

1-9. * Eleven o'dock, and still ileeping 
off last night's dcbauch, while eveiything 
is broiling ont of doorsl' 'Is it so late? 
111 get up — ^here, somebody!' He gets 
into a passion because no one comes. 

I. A young man of wealth is wakened 
by one of his companions — 'comites/ a 
wide term, induding tutors, (Virg. Aen. 5. 
545 * Custcdem .. comitemque/ 9. 649; 
Suet. Tib. la 'comitis et rectoris eius'), 
as wdl as associates of the same age 
(Virg. Aen. 10. 703 *Aequalem comi- 
temque ' ) : they seem, however, in both 
cases to have been selected by the youth's 
relatives, and to have been themselves of 
inferior rank. ' Comes ' 1. 54 is quite 
different. 

Hoc has somewhat better MS. 



2, ostendit. 

authority than 'haec/ and is quoted by 
Prisc. 15. 5. p. 1020. ' 

clarum mane. 'Dum mane novum ' 
Virg. G. 5. 325. ' Mane,' a substantive, 
more conunonly used adverbially. * Ad 
ipsum mane ' Hor. 1 S. 3. 17. 

^. rimas, *the chinks' between the^ 
shutters, which are made longer or enlarged 
to the eye by the light coming through 
them. 

3. stertimus, like 'scribimus' I. 13, 
the speaker including himself when he 
really is only meaning others. 

indomitum. Falemian was a very 
strong and heady wine, called 'ardens' 
Hor. 2 Od. II. 19, 'severum' i Od. 27. 
9, * forte '2 S. 4. 24, * indomitum ' again 
by Lucan. 10. 163 * Indomitum Meroe 
cogens spumare Fciemum* 

despumare = ' coquere,' ' to digest,' 
note on 1. 125. 

4. quinta is made to agree with 



SATIRE IIL 



' Is this always the qrder of the day, then ? Here is full morn- 
ing coming through the window-shutters, and making the narrow 
crevices iook larger with the light ; yet we go on snoring, enough 
to carry oflF the fumes of that unmanageable Faiernian, while the 
shadow is crossing the fifth line on the dial. What do you mean 
to do? Tlie mad dog^s star is aheady baking the crops dry, and 
the cattle have ali got under cover of the ehn/ The speaker is 
one of my lord's companions. * Really ? you don't mean it ? 
Hallo there, somebody, quick? Nobody there?' The glass of 
his bile is expanding. * I 'm splitting' — till you would think all 
the herds in Arcadia were setting up a bray. 



* mnbra/ though it more properly belongs 
to *linea,* just as in Aesch. Ag. 504 8c«dTfi 
<TC <^iyy€i r^d' aipiK6fifjv irov» it is the 
tenth year that is really meant. 

linea, of the sun-diaj, *Nec con- 
smebant ad horas eius lineae * Plin. 7. 60. 
00. The fifth honr was tbo time of 

* prandium.* ' Sosia, prandendum est : 
quartam iam totus in horam Sol calet : 
ad quifUam JUetitur umbra notam * Aus. 
Eph. L. O. C. I foll. quoted by Gi£ford. 

5. *En quid ago?' Virg. Aen. 4, 534. 
siccas with 'coquit.' 

insana canicula, with an allusion, 
of cotlrse, to the madness of the animal. 
' I am VTocyoafurit, £t stella vesani Leonis' 
Hor. 3 Od. 99. 18 ^rabiem Canis et mo- 
menta Leonis, Cum semel accepit solem 
Jurihundus acutum ' I £p. lo. 16. 

6. * lam pastor umbras cum grege lan- 
gnido Rivumque fessus quaerit* Hor. 3 Od. 



l.c. * Nunc etiam pecudes umbrat et Iri- 
gora captant ' Virg. E. 2. 8. 

8. *Nemon, oleum feret ocius? ecquis 
Audit? cum magno blateras clamore 
furisque' Hor. 2 S. 7. 34, Konig. Jahn 
well remarks, * qui ipse desidiosus tempus 
suum perdidit, ezcandescit cum non statim 
accurrit servus.' 

vitrea bilis, a translation of taX&Hri» 
XoX^, the ezpression in the Greek medical 
writers (Casaubon), ' splendida bilis ' Hor. 
a S. 3. 141. Casaubon quotes a Stoic 
definition, x^^^^t karlr dpy^ BioiMaa, 

9. * Finditur ' (bilis), the common read- 
ing, is found cmly in a few of the later 
MSS. 

findor ut was restored by Casaubon, 
and is recalled by Jahn, though doubtiully, 
as he confesses its difficulty, and apparently 
inclines to Hauthars conj. 'findimur.' 
* Findor/ * I am bursting,' is supported by 



£ Z 



52 



PERSII 



iam liber et positis bicolor membrana capillis 

inque manus chartae nodosaque venit harundo. 

tunc querimur, crassus calamo quod pendeat umor, 

nigra sed infusa vanescat sepia lympha; 

dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas. 

o miser inque dies ultra miser, hucine rerum 

venimus? at cur non potius teneroque columbo 

et similis regum pueris papare minutum 

poscis et iratus mammae lallare recusas? 

^An taii studeam calamo?' Cui verba? quid istas 

succinis ambages ? tibi luditur. effluis amens, 



lO 



15 



20 



16. palumbo. 



17. pappere. 



Hor. I S. 3. 135 *Rumperis et latns* 
(quoted by Heinr. who himself reads ' fin- 
ditur'). The remainder of the verse is 
thrown in bj the narrator abmptly, bat 
not unnaturaUy, as we have only to supply 
* damat ' or some such word. 

9. Arcadiae ; for the asses of Arcadia 
Casaubon refers to Varro R.R. 2. i. 14, 
Brodaeus, on Jut. 7. 160, to Plaut. Asin. 
2. 2. 67. 

pecuaria, 'herds/ Virg. G. 3. 64. 

riido, long only bere, and in the 
imitation by Auson. Epig. 76. 3, used 
particularly of the bra^ring of asses. See 
Freund. 

dicas most MSS., vulg. *credas.' 
10-18. • He afFects to set to work, but 
finds the ink won't mark. Wretched 
creaturel better be a baby again at 
once I ' 

10. bicolor, Tariously explained: by 
the early commentators, Casaubon and 
Heinr., of the two sides of the skin, on< 
yellow, though clearcd of hair, tbe other 
wbite — ^by Jahn of the custom of colour- 
ing the parchment artificially. * Quod 
neque cum eedro flavu» nec pumice levis ' 
Of. Trist. 3. 1. 13. The latter, however, 
seems to belong rather to copies of books 
than to parchment for ordinary writing — 
unless the touch is intended to show the 
luxury of the youth. 

capillis3s*pilis.* 

11. chartae, *the papyrus.* 

12. The ink is too thick at first— 
water is poured in — ^then he finds it too 



pale. 

13. nigra, emphatic. * Sepia pro 
atramento a colore posuit, qnamvis non 
ex ea, ut Afri, sed ex fuligine ceteri confi- 
ciant atramentum ' Scholiast. So Casau- 
bon, who refers to Phn. 35* 6 (35), and 
Dioscorides 5 ad fin. Jahn, however, on 
the authority of the present passage, and 
Auson. Epist. 4. 76., 7. 54, believes that 
the liquor of the cuttie-fii^ was actualty 
used for ink at Rome. 

14. The ink when dilnted rans from 
the pen in drops. 

fistula, like 'calamus,'is a synonjrme 
of * harundo.' 

15. iiltra has the force of a compa- 
rative, and is consequently foUowed by 
' quam.* * Ultra quam satis est * Cic. Inv. 
1. 49. 91 (Freund), Hor. 1 Ep. 6. 16. 

miser, vv. 66, 107. 

hucine and words connected with 
it seemingly archaic — used later collo-' 
quially, as in Plautus and Terence, Cicero, 
and Horace*s Satires. 'Siccine* is found 
in an impassioned passage of Catullus 
(64. 132, 134), and in Silius (9. 25), but 
not in Virgil or Horace. 

16. columbo is explained by Konig 
and Jahn after the Scholiast, as an epithet 
of endearment for children, so as to btf 
synonymous with * regum pueris : ' but this 
is very harsh, and it seems better to ex- 
plain it with Casaubon of a pet dove, snch 
as was commonly brought up in houses^;^ 
If we read ' palumbo,* which is found in 
most MSS., including some of the best^ 



SAT. III. 



53 



Now he takes the book into his hand, and the pardiment, which 
has had the hair taken ofF and shows two colours, and the paper, 
and the jointed reed. Next he begins to complain that the ink is 
thick and clots on the pen; and then, when water is poured in, 
that the blackness of the liquor is ruined, and that the implement 
tnakes two washy drops instead of one. Poor creature ! poorer 
and poorer every day ! is it come to this ? Had you not better 
at once go on like pet pigeons and babies of quality, asking to 
have your food chewed for you, and pettishly refusing to let 
mammy sing you to sleep? 

* Can I work with a pen like this ? ' Whom are you trying to 
take in? What do you mean by these whimpering evasions? It 
is your game that 's playing, you are dribbling away like a simpleton 



and approTed by Bentley on Hor. I Od. 2. 
lo, we may ezplain it with the Delphin 
ed. of the wood-pigeon fed by its mother 
from her own crop. 

17. regum pueris Hor. a Od. 18. 34» 
where it is contrasted with the *sordidi 
nati ' of the poor man. * Reges ' used 
generally for the great, see note on 
J.67. 

papare (so better spelt than pap- 
pare, Jahn), a child*s word for to eat. 
' Novo liberto opas est quod papet* Plaut. 
Epid. 5. 2. 61. * Cum cibum ac potionem 
buas ac papas docent {vocent Britann. di- 
cunt Cas.) et matrem mammam, patrem 
tatam' Varro *Cato vel de liberis edu- 
candis' £r. ap. Non. 81. 4. Persius here 
uses the infinitive as a noun (note on i. 9) 
for the actual food, our ' pap.' 

minutum is explained by the Scho- 
liast * eommanducatos cibos/ chewed appa- 
rently by the nurse (Lubin), but it may be 
only * broken up.' 

18. mammae, used for nurse, Inscr. ap. 
Visc. Mus. Pio-Clem. t. 2. p. 82, being in 
fact the child's name for any one perform- 
ing a mother's offices. 

lallare is interpreted by the Scho- 
liast as a verb formed from the nurse's 
cry lalla, which meant either 'go to 
sleep' or *suck.' Auson. Epist. 16. 90 
* Nutricis inter lemmata La//ique somni- 
feros modos/ as well as our luUabyy is in 
favonr of the former. The construction 
is not * iratus manmiae/ as some of the 
old commentators, Casaubon and Heinr. 
bave thought, but *mammae lallare»' 
which is Plautius' interpretation. So it 
was understood by Jerome (£p. 5 (i) T. 



4. 2 p. 7 Ben. quoted by Jahn), ' Forsitan 
et laxis uberum pellibus mater, arata 
rugis fronte, antiquum referens mammae 
lcUlare congeminet.' 

lallare recusas, then, is like 'iussa 
recusat ' Virg. Aen. 5. 749. 

19-34. * My pen won't writc.* 'Non- 
sense — don't bring your excuses to me. 
You are going all wrong — ^just at the age, 
too, when you are most impressible. You 
have a nice property of your own — but 
tbat is not enough — ^no, nor your family 
either. Your life is virtually like Natta's, 
except that you can feel your state, while 
he cannot.' 

19. * Culpantur frustra calami ' Hor. 2 

5. 3- 7- 

studeam, absolutely, in our sense of 
study, post Aug., see Freund. Plin £p. 5. 
5. 5 has *conpositus in habitum studentis,* 
as if the participle had come to be used as 
a noun. 

Cui verba (das), the verb omitted 
as in V. 30. 

20. succino, * to sing second,' Hor. i 
£p. 17. 48. * Agricuitura succinit pastorali 
vitae, quod est inferior* Varro R. R. i. 
2. 16; hence *to sing small.' 

ambages, 'beating about the bush,* 
opp. to direct narrative, Virg. G. 2. 46, 
Aen. I. 342, hence any evasive excuse 
which avoids the point. * Quando pau- 
periem, missis ambagibus, horres' Hor. 
2 S. 5. 9. Tiresias to Ulysses. 

tibi luditur, not *te ipse illudis' 
Schol. Heinr., as if it were a direct answer 
to *Cui verba?' (for then we should 
hardly have had the impersonal), but * the 
game is yours (and no one's else)' *you 



54 



PERSII 



contemnere: sonat vitium percussa^ maligne 

respondet viridi non cocta fidelia limo. 

udum et molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri 

fingendus sine fine rota* sed rure paterno 

est tibi iar modicum, purum et sine labe salinum — 25 

quid metuas? — cultrixque fbci secura patella. 

hoc satis? an deceat pulmonem rumpere ventis, 

stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis, 

censoremve tuum vel quod trabeate salutas? 

ad populum phaleras! ego te intus et in cute novi. 30 



are the player ' (Madvig. $ 250 a), a me- 
taphor from dice » ' tua res agitur/ 

ao, effluis, 'jon are dribbting away.* 
' Effluere ' used not only of the liquor bnt 
of the jar which lets it escape, like * mano.' 
Petr. 71 ' amphoras e^rpsatas, ne efflwmi 
Tinnm/ quoted by Jahn. 

31. contemnere, *haec ab Horatio' 
(a S. 3. 13), *male translata intempestiva 
sunt: Imndiain placare paras, virtute 
rdieta, Coniemnere tmser* Scholiast. 
Peifaaps we may say that Persius added 
'contemnere/ the scom of which is in 
itself sufficiently effective, withont intend- 
ing to continue the metaphor of * effluis/ 
but afterwards changed his mind. 

sonat vitium, like 'nec voz bomi- 
nem sonat* Virg. Aen. i. 328, quoted by 
the Scholiast. The same image from 
striking earthenware to judge of its sound- 
ness by its ring is repeated, with some 
variation, 5. 24 * Ptdsa, dignoscere cau- 
tus Quid solidum crepet,' which is the 
opposite of ' sonat vitium ' and ' maligne 
respondet;' so 5. 106, *mendosum tin- 
niat.' Jahn compares Lucr. 3. 873 ' sin- 
cerum sonere.* Casaubon refers to Plato 
Theaet. 179 D, where aoBpbv <p$4yy€aOai 
is opp. to £rYtit <p$iyy€<r$ai. 

maligne, *grudgingly,' opp. to *be- 
nigne ;' * laudare maiigne ' Hor. 2 £p. I. 
209. 

32. respondet. Stat. Ach. a. 174 has 
* respondentia tympana.' Compare Hor. 
A. P. 348 ' Nam neque chorda sonum red- 
dit quem vult manus et mens, Poscentiqut 
gravem persaepe remittit acutum.' 

viridiss:'crttdus,' opp. to *coctus,' 
with a reference also to the natural colour 
of the clay, not browned by the baking. 
23. Persius steps back, as it were, while 



porsuing the metai^or. ' In fiict, you are 
leally day at this moment in the potter's 
han^,' imitating Hor. a £p. a. 8 * argilla 
quidvis imitaberis uda.* Possibly there 
may be some reference to the story of 
Prometheus as the maker of men. Hor. 
I Od: 16. 13, Juv. 14. 35. 

properandus et .. fingendnsa» 
*propere fingendus.' Casaubon, quotxng 
Plaut. Aul. a. 3. 3 *Vascula intus pure 
propera atque elue,' where 'pnre' seems 
plainly to belong to * elue,' so that * pro- 
pera atque ' woM seem to be thrown in, 
dicl fiiaov, as we might say in English. 
* These are the things whi^ I told him 
to make haste and wasb* Wagner ad 
loc. however doubts the genuineness of 
the reading. * Properare ' is used actively, 
as in Virg. G. 1. 196. 

a^. sed rure paterno. Persins takes 
the words out of the youth's moutfa, as 
the half-slighting words *modicum' and 
' patella' show. ' Rure patemo ' is from 
Hor. I Ep. 18. 60 * interdum nugaris rure 
patemo* *Rus* for a part of the countty, 
an estate. ' Laudato ingentia rura, Ezi- 
gnum cxAiXo* Virg. G. a. 413. So Hor. 
3 Od. 18. a, I Ep. 15.17. 

a^. far, a quantity of com, 5. 74. The 
' salinum ' was generally silver (Val. Max. 
4* 4- 3f Plin* 33« la. 54, referred to bj 
Jabn), whence Horace's ' patemnm spUn- 
det in mensa tenui salinum* (a Od. 16. 
13), and perhaps 'purum et sine labe* 
here, though these words also denote 
moral respectability. Tbe purity of the 
salt, ' concha salis puri ' Hor. i S. 3. 14, 
may also be intended. The 'salinum' 
and the 'patella' are mentioned as the 
two simplest artides of plate — ^the general 
sense being, *You are the inheritor of a 



SAT. III. 



55 



as you are. You wiU be held cheap — the jar rings flawed when 
one strikes it, and retums a doubtful sound, being made, in fact, 
of green ill-baked clay. Why, at this moment you are moist soft 
earth. You ought to be taken instantly, instantly and fashioned 
without end by the rapid wheel. But you have a patemal estate 
with a fair crop of com, a saltcellar of unsullied brightness (no 
fear of ruin, surely!) and a snug dish for fireside service. Are 
you to be satisfied with this ? or would it be decent to puflf your- 
self and vapour because your branch is connected with a Tuscan 
stem and you are thousandth in the line, or because you wear 
purple on review days and salute your censor? Off with your 
trappings to the mob. I can look under them and see your skin. 



moderate and respectable property.' 
' When the necessities of the state obliged 
the senate to call for a general sacrifice of 
the gold and silyer of the people, tbe salt- 
cellar and the paten were expressly ex- 
empted from the contribution.' Stocker, 
who refers generally to Laeyinus' speech 
in Liyy j6. 36. 

26. qnid metuas expresses the feeling 
of the youth as anticipated by Persius. 
The object of fear is poverty, which it 
would require strenuous exertion to avoid. 
Hor. I £p. I. 43 foU. 

cultrix. possibly in a double sense, 
'inhabitant' and 'worshipper/ as the 
'patella' was used for offerings to the 
household gods. *Paielhie yasula parya 
picata sacris fiiciendis apta ' Fest. pp. 348» 
9 Miill. 

secura, both as an epithet of 'cul- 
trix/ and as expressing the ease and com- 
fort of the competency, with reference to 
' qnid metuas.' 

27. pulmonem rumpere yentis, for 
* inflatum. esse/ Scholiast ; 'pulmo animae 
praelargus' i. 14. 

38. * The imagines themselves, together 
with the lineae which connect them, con- 
stitute the stemtna or pedigree' Becker. 
Rom. Alt. 2. 1, p. 220 folL referred to by 
Mayor on Juy. 8. i. 

stemma is properly the garland hung 
on the ' imagines/ (Freund). 

Tusco, like Maecenas, Hor. 3 Od. 29. 
I., I S. 6. 1, Prop. 4. 9. I, aud like Persius 
himself. 

r a mu s » ' linea/ Mayor. 

millesime, yoc. for nom. i. 123, 
but with a rhetorical force. Jahn refers to 
Suet. Galba 2, who tells us that Galba had 
a * stemma ' in his * atrium/ showing his 



descent from Joye by the father's side, 
from Pasiphae by the mother*s. There 
may be also a hint that this long descent 
tells against as well as for a man, as in 
Sayage*s 'No tentb transmitter of a foolish 
face.' 

29. Niebuhr(Rhein. Mus. I p.354 foU.), 
followed by Jahn, explains this line of the 
* municipales equites.' ' Because you are 
a great man in your own proyincial town;' 
compare 1. 139. In any case the allusion 
is to the annual ' transvectio ' of the 
' equites ' before the censor, who used to 
reyiew them (*recognoscere') as they de- 
filed before bim on horseback. Suet. 
Aug. 38 says that Augustus reyiyed the 
practice, wUch had fallen into desuetude, 
but with certain modifications — abolishiog 
the custom of making those objected to 
dismount on the spot, permitting the old 
and infirm to answer his summons on foot, 
and send their horses on, and allowing all 
aboye thirty-fiye years of age who chose 
to giye up their horses. If ' censorem ' is 
understood of Rome, 'tuum* will imply 
that the youth is related to the Emperor, 
like Juyenars Rubellius Blandus 7. 41 : 
otherwise it means, * Your local censor. 

ye..yel is apparently an unexam- 
pled tautology. Many MSS. haye *cen- 
soremque/ which does not help the sense, 
and is itself less likely. One has * censo- 
remne/ which Casaubon wished to read, 
explaining it ' yel eone tibi places, quod/ 
Heinr. conj. * censorem fatuum/ which he 
thinks may stand for Claudius. 

trabeate, because the 'equites' ap- 
peared in the * trabea ' on these occaslons. 

30. phalerae, contemptuously to an 
' eques/ as the word is peculiarly used of 
a horse's trappings, while it meaos also a 



56 



PERSII 



non pudet ad morem discincti vivere Nattae? 
sed stupet hic vitio et fibris increvit opimum 
pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto 
demersus summa rursum non bullit in unda* 
magne pater divum, saevos punire tyrannos 
haud alia ratione velis, cum dira libido 
moverit ingenium ferventi tincta veneno: 
virtutem videant intabescantque relicta. 
anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera iuvenci, 
et magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis 
purpureas subter cervices terruit, ^imus, 
imus praecipites' quam si sibi dicat et intus 



35 



40 



51. naiae. 

military omament. * Multo pbaUras sa- 
dore receptas' Virg. Aen. 9. 458. * Equites 
donati pbaleris ' Livy 39. 31. 

30. ego te intus et in cute novi. 
' I know what lies under those trappings.* 
Compare 4. 43 * ilia subter Caecum Tulniis 
habes: sed lato balteus auro Praetegit.* 
Heinr. compares ly XP^* 

31. ad morem, more commonly *in 
morem/ * ex more/ or * more.' 

discincti, ^dtscinehu aut perdam 
itepos* Hor. Epod. i. 34. 

Natta is another character from 
Horace (i S. 6. 124), where he appears 
not as a reprobate, but as a man of filthy 
habits. 

32. sed, apparently used to show that 
the parallel does not now hold good, being 
rather in Natta's fiivour. Persius could 
not seriously think Natta's case better 
than that of the man whom *a Uttle 
grain of conscience makes sour/ any more 
than mortification is better than acute 
disease — indeed his description shows that 
he is fully alive to the horror of the state 
of moral death : but it is his object to 
enforce the stings of remorse, so, without 
drawing any direct comparison, he exhibits 
the former briefly, and then proceeds to 
dwell more at length on the latter. 

stupet. . vitio, like 'stupere gaudio' 
Cael. in Quint. 9. 3. 58 (Freund), * he is 
paralyzed by vicc.' 

fibris increvit, 'has overgrown his 
heart)' i. 47** 5* ^9* Madan compares 



37. ingeniom. 

Psakn 1 19. 70 ' Their heart is as fat as 
brawn.' So S. Matth. 13. 15 ciroxvv<h| 
T^p i^ iirapSia rov Xaov tovtov. S. John 
12. 40 w€wupmK€y avrSiv r^ KapHay. 
opimus is a synonyme of * pinguis.' 

33. pingue is here used substantively, 
as Virg. G. 3. 124 ' Impendunt curas denso 
disten^re pingtd' The application is 
analogous to that of * pingue ingenium,' 
fnt causing dullness of perception, though 
of course the sense here thought of is the 
moral sense. 

caret culpa, a translation of 0x6- 
KaarSs k&ri ? or implying that his dead- 
ness has virtually deprived him of respon- 
sibility? Such sentiments as Menander 
Tfw/i. itJ096ar. 430, quoted by Casaubon 
and Jahn, 6 i»xfikw tld^s ovbly k^afiapT6r- 
rci, are scarcely in point, as the ayvoia 
here is dyyoia iea$6\ov or kv rp wpoai- 
p^<r€i (Arist. Eth. N. 3. i). 

34. bullit, not ' struggling, sends a 
bubble to the top/ as Gifford renders it, 
as it would be quite impossible that a body 
plunged in water should not do so, how- 
ever unresisting, bnt *rises, and makes 
bubbles at the surface by struggling/ as 
Casaubon, Jahn, and Heinr. uuderstand it 
— and so perhaps the Scholiast, though he 
confuses matters by supposing the image 
to be that of a man absorbed by a * cae- 
nosa vorago.' Casaubon quotes Philo iri rd 
X^pov K. r. K. p. 172 D, — speaking of the 
flood of sensible objects that pours in on 
-the raind — r<$rc 70^ lyKC^woaS^U 6 vovs 



SAT. III. 



57 



Are you not ashamed to live the loose life of Natta? But he is 
paralyzed by vice ; his heart is overgrown with thick collops of 
fat ; he feels no reproach ; he knows nothing of his loss ; he is 
sunk in the depth and makes no more bubbles on the surface. 

Great Father of the Gods, be it thy pleasure to inflict no other 
punishment on the monsters of tyranny, after their nature has been 
stirred by fierce passion, that has the taint of fiery poison — let 
them look upon virtue and pine that they have lost her for ever I 
Were the groans from the brazen bull of Sicily more terrible, or 
did the sword that hung from the gilded comice strike more 
dread into the princely neck beneath it than the voice which 
whispers to the heart, * We are going, going down the precipice,' 



TMo&r^ MK69ej¥i fiv$toi ^vpiffxtrai, /i^* 
hffov dyarij^atr$ai Koi hwtptt^i/w Hvyd- 
pi€yo$. 

35-43. •No torture that can be in- 
flicted on the sinner can be worse than 
that in the moment of temptation he 
should see virtue as she is, and gnash his 
teeth that he cannot follow her. The 
buU of Phalaris, the sword of Damocles, 
are as nothing compared with the daily 
** sense of nmning darkly to ruin'* from the 
effect of concealed sin.' 

35. tyrannos, as inventors of tor- 
tures for others, and therefore deserving 
the worst tortures themselves, probably 
with reference to the historical allusions 
which follow, w. 39-41. Persius doubt- 
less thought of Hor. i £p. 2. 58 ' Invidia 
Siculi non invoiere tyranni Maius tor- 
mentum,' * intabescant ' referring to ' in- 
vidia' (compare ' macrescit ' v. 57). Juv. 
apparently imitates both (13. 196), *Poena 
autem vehemens ac multo saevior illis 
Quas et Caedicius gravis invenit aat 
Rhadamanthus.' 

36. libido moverit ingenium, 'ut 
ingtnium est omnium Hominum et labore 
proclive ad lihidinem ' Ter. Andr. 1. 1. 50. 

37. ferventi .. veneno, *Occultum 
inspires igntm, fallasque veneno' Virg. 
Aen. I. 688, compare 7. 354-356, Lucan. 
9. 742. 

38. videant. Comp. PIato's language 
aboat ^p^Ki/erit, Phaedms p. 250 D. 

intabescant seems taken from 
Ovid's description of envy (M. 2. 7^^)» 
* intabescitqae videndo Successus homi- 
num.' 

relicta, abl. abs. Compare Virg. 
Aen. 4. 693 C^esivit caelo lucem in- 
gemuitque reptrta* Though *relicta' 



here stands not for 'postquam/ but for 
^quod eam rdiquerunt.' The line, as 
Jahn remarks, has more force, ezpressed 
as it is in the form of a prayer, than if it 
had been regularly connected with the 
preceding sentence, *haud alia ratione 
quam ut.' The sentiment is Ovid's * Video 
mdiora,' etc. 

39. gemuerunt, because the groans of 
the victims passed for the bellowings of 
the bull. *Gemere' might possibly bc 
used of the animal itself, as it is applied 
by Lucr. 3. 297 to the lion — but it if 
doubtless substituted here for 'mugire/ 
not only as adding to the poetry of thc 
passage by combining the images of the 
bull and the victim, but for the sake of 
the comparison, which is to illustrate 
hutnan suffering. 

40. This refereuce to the story of Da- 
mocles is probably imitated from Hor. 3 
Od. 1. 17 ■ Destrictus ensis cui super impia 
Cervice pendet, non Siculae dapes Dulcem 
elaborabtint saporem.' 

41. purpureas . . cervices, a bolder 
expression than * purpurei ( = purpurati) 
tyramii' Hor. l Od. 35. 13, from which 
it is doubtlcss taken. The epithet so 
chosen suggests the notion not merely of 
splendour, but of the splendour of a tyrant, 
so as to be virtually equivalent to Horace's 

* imfia cervice.' * Cervices ' is usual for 

* cervix.' 

43. imus praecipites. 'Peccatis in« 
dulgens praecipitem amicum ferri sinit' 
Cic. de Amic. 24. The Delph. ed. 
and Jahn refer to the celebrated opening 
of Tiberius' letter to the Senate (Tac. Ann. 
6. 6, Suet. Tib. 67) *Quid scribam vobis, 
P. C, aut quomodo scribam, aut quid 
omnino non scribam hoc tempore, Dii me 



58 



PERSIl 



palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor? 

Saepe oculos, memini, tangebam parvus olivo, 
grandia si noUem morituri verba Catonis 
discere, non sano multiun laudanda magistro, 
quae pater adductis sudans audiret amicis. 
iure etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret, 
scire erat in voto; damnosa canicula quantum 
raderet^ angustae coUo non fallier orcae; 
neu quis caliidior buxum torquere fiagello. 
haud tibi inexpertum curvos deprendere mores, 



45 



50 



43. quid. 



46. et ituatto. 



53. baut. 



Deaeque peius perdant quam ptrire mi 
ttuotidie sentio, si scio:' but they omit 
Tacitus' comment, which is at least as 
much to the point : * Neque fnistra prae- 
stantissimus sapientiae firmare solitus est, 
si recludantur tyrannorum mentes, posse 
adspid laniatus et ictus: quando ut cor- 
pora verberibus, ita saevitia, libidine, malis 
consuetis, animus dilaceretur/ 

43. intus palleat, not a very intelli- 
gible expression at first sight, appears to 
include the notions of deptb and secrecy, 

43. palleat . quod nesciat is the 
acc. of the object, as in 5. 184 * recuti- 
taque sabbata palles/ not the cogn., as in 
I. 124 note. 

proxima . . uxor, *the wife of his 
bosom ;' compare the use of ' propinquus.' 
44-63. 'I remember my school days, 
which were unprofitable enough. I used 
to shirk recitation-lessons, because all my 
ambition was to excel in games of chance 
or skill—but you have had an insight into 
what wisdom is, and have leamt some- 
thing of the excellence of virtue. Drop- 
ping off again — nodding and yawning? 
Have you really no object in life ? ' 

44. tangebam, the reading of the 
best MSS. for ' tingebam/ is supported by 
Ov. A. A. 1. 661 * Si lacrimae. . Deficient, 
uda lumina tange manu.* Konig, Jahn, 
and by the Scholiast ' Oculi oleo tacti 
perturbantur ad tempus.' The object of 
the appiication, however, as most of the 
old commentators, Heinr. and Jahn per- 
ceive, was not to produce irritation or 
anything which had the appearance of it, 



but to make believe that his eyes were 
weak by his use of the remedy. 'Cum 
tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis * 
Hor. I S. 3. 15. *Non tamen idcirco 
contemnas lippus inungi' i Ep. i. 39. 

parvus, *when a child.' * Memini 
quae plagosnm nuin parvo Orbilium diq- 
tere' Hor. 3 Ep i. 70. 

45. grandia; a d^ring speech made 
for Cato, like the oration to Sulla, Juv. i. 
16, and the ' suasoria ' made for Hannibal, 
id. 7. 161 foll. See Tac. Or. 35. Here 
the speech seems not the boy's own com- 
position, but that of some one else, perhaps 
the master, and leamt by the boy. 

46. non sano expresses Persius' scom 
for the whole system of education — the 
choice of such subjects for boys, and the 
praise given to contemptible ciForts — ^per- 
haps on account of the father's presence. 
There is much to the same eifect inTac.I.c. 

laudanda = *quae laudaret,' after 
the analogy of * tradere, curare, etc, fa- 
ciendum,' a use belonging to later Latin. 
Madvig, § 433. 

47. The recitation was weekly, but the 
father does not seem to have attended 
so often. Juv. 7. 165, 6. 

sudans, firom pleasure and exdte- 
ment. 3. 53. Jahn, who refers, after 
Casaubon, to Statius' words in his funeral 
poem on his father Silv. 5. 3. 315 foU. 
' Qualis eras, Latios quoties ego carmine 
patres Mulcerem, felixque tui spectator 
adesses Muneris ! heu quali confiisus 
gaudia fletu Vota piosque metus inter 
laetumque pudorem ! ' 



SAT. III. 



59 



and the ghasdy inward paleness, which is a mystery, even to the 
Wife of the bosom? 

Often, I remember, as a small boy I used to give my eyes a 
touch with oil, if I did not want to leam Cato's grand dying 
speech, sure to be vehemently applauded by my wrong-headed 
master, that my father might hear me recite in a glow of perspir- 
ing ecstacy with a party of friends for the occasion. Reason good, 
for the summit of my scientific ambition was to know what that 
lucky sice would bring me, how much that ruinous ace would 
sweep oflf — never to be balked by the narrow neck of the jar, 
or to let any one be cleverer at whipping the top. But you 
have had some practice in detecting deviations from the rule of 
right, and in the doctrines of the philosophic porch where the 



48. iure : as a boy tuming away from 
distastefiil and injudicious teaching, fond 
of boyish amusements, and not able to 
appreciate the higher pursuits which 
would engage him afterwards. ' lure ' 
forming a sentence by itself: 'iure om- 
nes' Hor. i S. 2. 46. So * merito/ i S. 

6. 23. 

id snmmum . .. erat in voto. 
' £sse in voto ' or * votis ' means to be in- 
cluded in a person*s prayers. * Hoc erat 
in votis' Hor. 2 S. 6. i. So *vcnire in 
votum ' I Ep. II. 5. Compare Cic. N. D. 
I. 14 ' Deus qui nunquam nobis occurrit, 
neque in precibus, neqne in optatis, neque 
tn votis.' 

senio, ' the size/ (compare ' temio,' 
' unio ') stands, as Jahn and Heinr. think, 
for three sizes, Tpit l^, the highest throw 
with the * tesserae ' (* Venus,* or * iactus 
Venereus*). The highest throw with thc 
' tali,' which were four in number, was 
when all four turned up di£ferently (Lu- 
cian. Am. p. 415, Ov. A. A. 2. 204 
foU., Tr. 2. 471 foll.). See Freund v. 
alea.' 

quid . . . ferret » * quem fhictum 
ferret.' Boys played games of hazard as 
well as games of a more harmless sort. 
' Puer . . ludere doctior Seu Grraeco iubeas 
trocho, Seu malls vetita legibus alea ' Hor. 
3 Od. 24. 55 foll. 

49. * Me quoque per talos Venerem 
quaerente secundos Semper damnosi subsi- 
luere eofus* Prop. 5. 8. 46, i.e. in the 
game with * tali,' when all four fell alike, 
in the game with ' tesserae,' which is here 
meant, when all three were aces, rpccs 
Mvfiot, 

50. raderet, opp. to * ferret.' Freund 



makes the 'orca' equivalent to the 
• phimus ' (Hor. 2 S. 7. 1 7) or box into 
which the dice were thrown, quoting 
Pompon. ap. Prisc. 3. p. 615, 'interim 
dum contemplor orcam taxillos (sstalos) 
perdidi;' but it does not appear that 
tbrowing the dice with accuracy into the 
box constituted any part of the skill of 
the game, and the Schol. seems right in 
supposing Persius to allude, as Pomponius 
doubtless did, to the game with nuts 
(*nuces') called in Greek rpSvu (Pollux 
9. 7. 103), which was frequently per- 
formed with * tali ' {dffTpdyaXoi), the 
point being to throw them into a hole 
(fi60po$)y or, as here, into a jar, so as not 
to count those which fell outside. The 
narrowness of the neck (' collo angustae 
orcae ' » * collo angusto orcae ') would of 
course increase the difficulty. 

51. ' £t [erat in voto] ne quis callidior 
(esset).' 

buxum, ' the top,' as in Virg. Aen. 
7. 382 ' volubile buxum,' which Persius 
probably imitates, as no other instance is 
quoted where the word is so applied. 

52. *You are not without practice in 
detecting deviations from the rule of 
right.' 

curvos«=*pravos,* apparently from 
Hor. 2 £p. 2. 44 * Scilicet ut possem curvo 
dignoscere rectum,' which is used, as here, 
as a synonyme for higher education — a 
young man's as opposed to a boy's. Per- 
sius nearly repeats himself 4. 1 1 ' rectum 
discemis ubi inter Curva subit, vel cum 
fallit pcde regula varo* (referred to by 
Jahn). Comp. also 5. 38 'Apposita in- 
tortos extendit regula mores,' which Cas- 
aubon quotes. 



60 



PERSir 



quaeque docet sapiens bracatis inlita Medis 
porticus, insomnis quibus et detonsa iuventus 
invigilat, siliquis et grandi pasta polenta: 
et tibi quae Samios diduxit littera ramos, 
surgentem dextro monstravit limite callem. 
stertis adhuc, laxumque caput conpage soluta 
oscitat hesternum, dissutis undique malis! 
est aliquid quo tendis, et in quod dirigis arcum? 
an passim sequeris corvos testaque lutoque, 
securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivis? 
helleborum frustra, cum iam cutis aegra tumebit, 



55 



60 



56. didumt. 



60. 



tn quo. 



65. iimebii u superscr. 



53. We must either suppose a zengma, 
borrowing *cognoscere' or some such 
word from * deprendere/ or make the 
construction, * neque inexperta sunt quae/ 
etc, just as 'scire' and * neu quis' are two 
subjects connected with thc same predicate 
* summum erat in voto/ 

sapiens .. porticus, like 'sapien* 
tem barbam' Hor. a S. 3. 35, * erudi- 
tus pulvis' Cic. N. D. 2. 18. The 
porch is personified as in Hor. 2 S 3. 
44 ' porticus et grex Autumat.' The 
woiiciKff crrod, wbere 2^o and his 
followers used to resort, was adomed 
with paintings by Polygnotus, one of 
them representing the battle of Mara- 
thon. Laert. 7. 5 ; Paus. l. 15, referred 
to by Casaubon. Whether the walls 
were themselves painted or merely hung 
with paintings is not clear, and not 
settled, as Jahn remarks, by the word 
' inlita/ which cannot be pressed, as it is 
used improperly, and probably ezpresses 
some contempt. 

bracatis. * Tela fugacis equi, et 
bracati militis arcus' Prop. 4. 4. 17. 

54. et detonsa was restorcd by Tur- 
nebus, whom Casaubon and later editors 
foUow, from most MSS. for the old 
reading * indetonsa.' The Stoics let their 
l)eard grow, but cut their hair close 
(*supercilio brevior coma ' Juv. 2. 15, 
quoted by the Delph. ed. Konig also 
refers to Luc. Vit. Auct. 20, Hermot. 
18) — a practice, as Jahn remarks, com- 
mon to them with athletes, mourners, 
and misers (Theophr. Char. 10), in of^x)- 



sition to the fashionable and luzuriottc 
habits of the «o/iwrrc*. 

55. invigilat, rather tautological after 
* insomnis.' ' Nec capiat somnos invigi- 
letque malis.' Ov. F. 4. 530. 

siliquis, 'pulse.' Hor.- 2 £p. i, 
1 23, speaking of the poet, * vivit siligias 
et pane secundo' 

polenta, ^^Ta, ' pearl - barley/ 
a Greek, not a Roman» dish (*videtur 
tam puls ignota Graedae fuisse, quam 
Italiae poUnta* Pliny 18. 19. 8), men- 
tioned as a simple article of diet by 
Attalus, Seneca's preceptor (Sen. £p. 11 o. 
18, quoted by Jahn) *Habemus aquam', 
habemus poUntam : lovi ipsi controver- 
siam defelicitatefaciamtts:'called *gTandis/ 
as Virg. £. 5. 36 speaks of * grandia 
hordea ' — perhaps, as Casaubon thinks, 
with a further reference to the abundance 
of the meal and its fattening effects. 

56. The image of the two ways is as 
old as Hesiod, W. and D. 287-292 rj^ 
/iiyroi KOic&nfTa md IXabSv k<Friv IxitrSai 
'Fi/iSuut' Xcii; fttv 6S6$t fji6\a 5' kyy60i 
valu. Tifi d' dpcr^t Idp&ra $€ol v/>oway 
poiOw tOffiea» *k$6yaroi' ftoKp^i S^ leat 
opBiot otfio* kt avT^Kai rpijx^* rbvpSnair 
kirifv b' ct« Sucpov ticrfrcu^ 'TffX^rf 5^ lircira 
v^Xcc, x^<^ '"'^P kovffa. P^rthagoras 
improved on it by choosing the letter ^ 
(the older form of V or Y), hence called 
bis letter (Anth. Lat. 1076. I Meyer), ai 
its symbol, the stem standing for the un- 
conscious life of in£incy and childhood, 
the diverging branches for the altemative 
oifered to the youth, virtue or vice. Per^ 



SAT. III. 



6i 



Medes are painted in their trowsers: doctrines which form the 
^i^htly study of close-shaven young men, dieted on pulse and vast 
messes of porridge : and the letter which spreads into Pythagorean 
ramifications has set your face towards the steep path which rises 
to the right. Snoring still? your head dropped, with the neck- 
joints all loose, yawning off yesterday, with your jaws starting 
asunder from all pgints of the compass ? Have you any goal ? any 
mark at which you aim? or are you on a vague wild-goose chase 
armed with broken pots and mud, not caring where you go, and 
living by the rule of the moment? 

It is too late to ask for hellebore, as you see men doing, when 



sius again refers to this 5. 54 *Ciimqae 
iter ambiguam est, et vitae nescius error 
didncit trepidas ramosa in compita 
mentes.' 

Samins occurs Ov. F. 3. 153 as a 
synonyme of P^rthagoras. 

'deduxit' most MSS., but didusit 
is cleariy right, as Jahn remarks. The 
two prefixes are constantly confounded, 
and the point is just one on which MSS. 
have no weight. 

57- surgentem. Because the path of 
virtue was arduous, Iip0ios otftott and hence 
represented by the straight limb of the 4 
{dextro), 

monstravit perhaps conveys a 
simUar notion, as if the letter itself by its 
ibrm suggested the path to the right, that 
which went straight on. So limes would 
naturally mean a straight cut road, * secto 
via limite quadret' Virg. G. 2. 378. 

callis is properly a mountain path, 
as defined by Isid. Orig. 15. 16. 10 * callis 
est iter pecudum inter montes angustum et 
tritum/ Freund q. v. The general mean- 
ing of the two lines then is, * You have 
arrived. at the tuming-point of life, and 
have been told which is the right way.' 

58. stertis, v. 3, the effect of the 
•• crapula.' 

laxum, I. 98. 

conpage, *conpages humana labat' 
I«ucan 5. 1 19. 

59. oscitat hesternum, like 'verum 
plorabit' 1. 90; 'corpus onustum Hester" 
mt vitiis' Hor. a S. a. 78. 

undique, an intentional exaggera* 
tion for ' utraque parte.' 

60. Casaubon compares Arist. Eth. N, 
1. 1 ip tX» koSL irp6$ rbv fiiov i^ yywffit 
rov riXov* fityAkrjv ix*i fiorfiVt leai koB- 
Atrtp To(&rai /rttowbv ixovru, fioXKov ^y 



Tvyx&yotfuv Tov HiovTOt ; 

in quod, though found only in a 
few MSS., is unquestionably the true 
reading, not *in quo.' The change, as 
Jahn remarks, is one which might justi- 
fiably have been introduced even if totally 
unsupported, being demanded by the lan- 
guage, and really countenanced by the 
MSS., as *d' has evidently dropped oiit 
before * dirigis.' 

61. passim, * volucres huc illuc passim 
vagantes ' Cic. de Div. 2. 38, * at random.' 
Comp. Aesch. Ag. 394 9i&icti irdu vora' 
vdv 6pviv, and the Greek proverb tcL ircr^- 

/l€Va ?k6iK€lV, 

testaque lutoque, *the first mis* 
siles that come to hand,' opp. to ' arcus.' 
Casaubon. * Sequi,* attempt to reach 
with : ' teloque sequi, quem prendere 
cursu Non poterat' Virg. Aen. 12. 775. 
Comp. * pilo sequi ' Tac. H. 4. 29, * ferro 
sequi ' Ov. M. 6. 665. 

62. securus, followed by a relative 
clause. ' Quid Tiridaten terreat, unice 
Securus' Hor. i Od. 26. 6: compare 
also 2 S. 4. 50., 2 Ep. I. 176. See 6. la 
note. 

ex tempore, *off-hand,' 'on thc 
spur of the moment ;' * versus fimdere 
ex tempore* Cic. de Or. 3. 50 : so that 
• ex tempore vivere * is * to live by the ruk 
of impulse ;' not, as Heinr. thinks, equi- 
valent to * in diem vivere,' • to live from 
hand to mouth.* 

63 — 76. * There is such a thing as try- 
ing to mend when it is too late. Be wise 
in time — leam your duty — where to bound 
your wishes — on what objects to spend 
money — what is your mission in life. 
Such knowledge will stand a lawyer in 
better stead than all the wealth his fec& 
may be bringiDg him.' 



62 



PERSII 



poscentis videas: venienti occurrite morbo! 
et quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montis? 
discite, o miseri, et causas cognoscite rerum: 
quid sumus, et quidnam victuri gignimur; ordo 
quis datus, aut metae qua moliis flexus et unde; 
quis modus argento, quid fas optare, quid asper 
utile nummus habet; patriae carisque propinquis 
quantum elargiri deceat; quem te deus esse 
iussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re» 
disce, nec invideas, quod multa fidelia putet 



6f 



70 



67. ttUi, 



68. tUUur. Jhmus. 



69. ohkart. 



63. hellebornm. Black hellebore 
was given in dropsief, Plin. 2$, 5. 34, 
after Dioscorid. 4. 151, referred to by 
Jahn. 

cntis aegra tumebit, tv. 95, 98. 
Obserre Persius' frequent reference to tiie 
dropcy, when he wishes to choose an in- 
sUnce of disease, I. 23 (?) 55., 3. 63, 88 
foU. ; apparently bccause it is directly 
traceable to indulgence. In the present 
passage he may haye thought of Horaoe» 
z Ep. a. 33 *Ut te ipsum scrves, non 
ezpergisceris ? atqui, Si noles sanus, curres 
hydropicus.' 

64. 'Principiis obsta: sero medecina 
paratur, Cum mala per longas inyaluere 
moras' Ov. R. A. 91 foU., quoted by 
Madan. 

65. et quid is the reading of aU the 
MSS. but one, which has * ecquid,' as 
OreUi reads. Jahn seems right in con- 
necting the present Une closely with the 
preceding — *Meet the disease in its first 
stages, and what need wiU there be?' 
* et ' marking the consequence. * Dic 
quibus in terris, et eris mihi magnus 
ApoUo ' Virg. £. 3. 104. 

Craterus, Hor. 2 S. 3. 161. See 
note on 2. 14. 

magnos promittere montes, a 
proverbial phrase. Jahn compares Ter. 
Fhorm. i. a. 18 'modo non montes auri 
poUicens,* Heinr. SaU. Cat. 33 ' maria 
montesque poUiceri coepit,' from which it 
appears that the expression was variously 
miderstood, some taking it of monntains 
of gold, others of actual mountains. 
' You wiU not then be driven to the 



frantic offers which patients in desperatioa 
make to their physidans.' 

66. discite, o. The hiatns is like 
that in Hor. 3 Od. 14. ii *male omio^ 
atis Pardte yerbis,* if the reading is 
ccOTect. 

causas cognoscite rerum is 
doubtless from Virg. G. a. 490 ; but Vir* 
gil means the phjrsical causes of nature; 
Persius the final cause of human Hfe, 
Juvenal's ' vivendi causas ' (8. 84). 

67. snmus, etc. The questions, thongh 
reaUy dependent, bdng put in an inde^ 
pendent form, ezcept 'deceat* v. 71. 
Compare Prop. 4. 5. 25 foU. The ques* 
tions here proposed are Stoic questions, 
and have been brgely iUustrated by Cas« 
aubon, though the whole passage is appa- 
rently modeUed on Hor. i £p. 18. 96 
foU. 'Inter cuncta leges et percontabore 
doctos, Qua ratione queas tiaducere leni- 
ter aevum,' etc. 

quid sumus. Cic. Fia. 4. zo, 
speaking of the points on which Stoica 
and Academics agree, 'Sequitur iUud ut 
animadvertamus gut dmus ipsi . . • Sumus 
igitur homines : ex animo constamus et 
corpore, quae sunt cuiusdam modi ;* from 
which he goes on to dedu(» the end of 
Ufe, * secundum naturam vivere,' so as to 
iUustrate Persius' second inquiiy. 

qui^uam victuri gignimur. 
Casaubon also qaotes Marc. Antonin. 8. 
5a d 91 fiii c{5ctw vpds 5 ri ir^viccv, ojur 
oiity tffrtM itrriy Mk ri lori K6a/w$, 

quidnam>K' quam vitam.' 

victuri, not expressing time bnt 
purpose. See note on z. zoo. 



SAT. III. 



63 



the skin is just getting morbid and bloated. Meet the disease at 
its first stage, and what occasion is there to promise Craterus 
gold - mines for a cure ? Be instructed, poor creatures, and ac- 
quaint yourselves with the causes of things, — ^what we are, what life 
we are sent into the world to lead, what is the rank assigned us 
at starting, where is the smooth turn roimd the goal and when tO' 
take it, what should be the limit to our fortune, what we may law- 
fully wish for, what is the good of coin fresh from the mint, how 
much ought to be spent on one's country and one's near and dear 
friends, what part God has ordained you to bear, and what is your 
position in the human commonwealth. Be instructed, and do not 
grudge the trouble on the strength of the jars of good things tuming 



ordo seems rightly explained by 
Heinr. aiid Jahn with refertoce to what 
follows, of the position for starting in the 
chariot race. Compare Soph. £1. 710 
orianrit h* &' avroht ol r€TayfUyoi fipa" 
fi€t9 KK-^pot» ttrfiXa» kojL leariaTqaav 
Bl4>pov»» The word however is a Stoic 
one, r&^i», Epict. 22. Heinr. 

68. Most MSS. read *quam/ which 
Casaubon retains ; but Orelli, Heinr., and 
Jahn rightly prefer qua. The difficulties 
of rounding the goal in a chariot race are 
well known. See Hom. II. 23. 306 foll., 
Soph. £1. 720., Hor. i Od. i. 4. 

metae . • ■ . flexus, like * ilectere 
metam ' Stat. Theb. 6. 440. Jahn. * In 
flectendis promontoriis ' Cic. Div. 2. 45. 

mollists* facilis.' The turn must 
not be too sharp or abrupt. xXMfQ^cu 
. . ^Ka Hom. I. c. 

unde, whence to begin the turn. 
The. choosing of places and the fixing of 
the goal are mentioned closely together. 
Hom. II. 23. 358 cr^ d^ fttratrrotx^i' 
<riiiiigiv€ $€ ripiiar 'AxtAXci^c, imitated by 
Virgil, Aen. 5. 1 29-132. 

69. quis modus argento, probably 
imitated from Lucil. ap. Lact. I. D. 6. 5. 2 
' Virtus, quaerendae finem rei scire mo- 
dumque.* 

quid fas optare carries us back 
to Sat. 2. * Quid sentire putas ? quid cre- 
dis, amice, precari ? ' Hor. i £p. 18. 106, 
* Nil ergo optabant homines ? ' Juv. 10. 

546- 

asper .. nummus, Suet. Nero 44 

for new coin, rough from the die. Pos- 
sibly Persins may mean, ' What is the 
good of money hoarded up and not cir- 
culated (/W/t/s)?' Compare Hor. i S. i. 
4f folt., 73 * Nescis quo valeat nummus ? 



quem praebeat usum ?' 

70. Lucil. I. c. * Commoda praeterea 
patriae sibi prima putare Deinde parentum, 
tertia jam postremaque nostra.' Persius 
however was thinking more of Hor. 2 S.' 
2. 104 ' Cur, improbe, carae Non aliquid 
pairiae tanto emetiris acervo ? ' 

carisque propinquis is from Hor.. 
I S. I. 83. Compare also Hor. A. P. 312 
' Qui di(ticit patriae quid debeat et quid 
armcis* and Virg. G. 2. 514 * Hinc pa» 
triam parvosque penatis Sustinet.' 

71. elargiri, a very rare word. 
quem te deus esse iussit. 'Supra, 

Diseite quid sumus : sed aliud est ; nam 
ibi natura hominis proponebatur inqui- 
renda, hic personae quaiitas, ibi inquam 
<pi6a€M wipi agebatur, hic v€pl ax^^cAW.' 
Casaubon. The words appear to be ex- 
plained by those which foUow, * humana 
qua parte locatus es in re,' and if so, not 
to differ materially from ' ordo quis datus.* 
Thus, quem . . esse»*quas partes agere.' 

72. humana .. res, apparently on the 
analogy of ' res Romana.' 

locatus seems to be another equi- 
valent of rerayfUvoSt implying the notion 
of a station or post which a man is bound 
not to desert. Casaubon quotes Arriaa 
I. 9 6vdax*<^^^ kvoiKwvrf» ra^mjv x^ 
pav, tl» Ijv kH€ivo» h/M» Hra^tv, ' Locnm 
virtutis deseruit ' Hor. i £p. 16. 67. 

73. Persius changes from * discite ' to 
disce, as he had changed from 'gigni- 
mur' to 'locatus es.* It matters little whe- 
ther we connect * disce ' with what goes 
before, or make it begin a new sentence. 

invideas ('discere') as Jahn ex- 
plains it. ' His te quoque iungere, Caesar, 
Invideo* Lucan. 2. 550. iA&$ay€, litfS* 
<p$6v€i, The lines which follow must 



64 



PERSII 



in locuplete penu, defensis pinguibus Umbris, 
et piper et pernae, Marsi monumenta clientis, 
menaque quod prima nondum defecerit orca. 
Hic aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum 
dicat ^Quod sapio satis est mihi* non ego curo 
esse quod Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones, 
obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram^ 
murmura cum secum et rabiosa silentia rodunt 
atque exporrecto trutinantur verba labello^ 
aegroti veteres meditantes somnia, gigni 
de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti. 



75 



80 



75. nuimmeHta. 



79. talotut. 



80. opstipo. 



81. rapiosa. 



refer to the man whom Persius is ad- 
dressing, not to some other person, as 
there is no sort of spedfication. We 
roust suppose then that Persius finally 
leaves the youth to whom he has been 
appealing at t. 62. He then delivers a 
more general admonition, at last »ngling 
out a person whom he chooses to describe 
as a rich lawyer. *Do not grudge me 
your attention because yoor stores are 
foll.* 

73. multa fidelia putet. The details, 
and the word 'putet/ are meant to be 
contemptuous. * Your stores are so fiill 
that you cannot eat the good things while 
they are fresh.' * Quod hospes Tardius 
adveniens vitiahtm commodius quam In- 
iegrum edax dominus eonsumeret' Hor. 
2 S. 2. 90. There is a coarseness in fees 
paid in kind, as in Aristoph. Clouds 648, 
where Strepsiades offers to fill Socrates' 
trough with meal, though the notion here 
is that of rude plenty, not as in Juy. 7. 
119, Mart. 4. 46, of a penurious truck- 
system. 

74. * Among your plenteous stores ;* 
penus comprehending all the contents 
of the larder. * Est enim omne quo 
vescuntur homines penus* Cic* N. D. 
2. 37. 

pinguibus, another touch of sar- 
casm. Men who have to borrow yoor 
wits and give you in retum the sort of 
produce in whidi they are most abundant. 

75. pernae. ' Siccus petasunculus et 
vas Pelamydum ' form part of Juvenars 
list (l.c. Mayor^s note). For the nm» 



plici^*of the Marsians, Jahn comporcs 
Jov. 3. 169., 14. 180. 

76. 'You have not yet finished the 
first jar they sent you/ much less the 
others. The * mena * was a common 
sort of sea fish. * Qui enim voluptatem 
ipsam contenmunt, iis licet dicere, se aci* 
penserem menae non anteponere' Cic. 
Fin. 2 28. 

orca. Hor. 2 S. 4. 66 * quam qua 
Byzantia putuit orea* firom ¥^ch Persius 
probably got the word * putet * v. 73. 

7 7-8 7. * " Bah,- says a soldier, " I know 
what *s what well enough. I don't want 
to be one of your philosophers, standing^ 
dumbfoundered and puzzling how the 
world was made — a pretty reason for 
losing one's colour and going without 
one's dinner." A truly popular senti- 
ment 1 ' 

77. The soldier is introduced after the 
lawyer. Compare Hor. X S. I. 4 sqq., 
wbere they are dassed together. Persius 
hates the military cordially (compare 5. 
189-191) as the most perfect specimens 
of developed animalism, and consequendy 
most antipathetic to a philosopher. See 
Nisard £tudes sur les Poetes Latins, i. 
336-239. Horace merely glances at the 
edncation their sons received, as contrasted 
with that given to him by his fiither in 
spite of narrow means, I S. 6. 72. Juve- 
nal has an entire satire on them (16), in 
which he complains of their growing 
power and exclusive privileges, but with- 
out any personal jealousy. 

de gente» * of the clan/ used 0011« 



SAT. III. 



65 



bad in your well-stored larder, your fees for defending your fat 
friends from Umbria, or the pepper and hams, the remembrancer 
of your Marsian client, or because you may liot yet have come to 
the last sprat of the first barrel. 

Here we may suppose a gentleman of the unsavoury profession 
of centurion to strike in, * I know all I 've any need to know. 
I don't want to be like one of your Arcesilases or your poor louts 
of Solons, stooping their heads and nailing the ground with their 
eyes, as they stand grinding queer noises and mad-dog silence all 
to themselves, and putting out their lips like a pivot for balancing 
their words, lost in pondering over the dreams of some sick dotard 
or other. Nothing can come out of nothing, nothing can go back 



temptnously, to imply that the soldiers 
form a class by themselves. 

hircosa, opp. to ' unguentatus ' in a 
fragm. of Seneca ap. Gell. 1 2. 3. 1 1 * ut 
licet scripti sint inter bircosos, possint 
tamen inter unguentaios placere.' Com- 
pare Hor.*i S. 2. 37. The Stoic simpli- 
city is meant to be contrasted with the 
coarseness of the soldiery on the one hand 
as with the effeminacy of the young aris- 
tocracy on the other — two different modes 
of pampering the body at the expense of 
the mind. Compare 'hirsuta capella' 
Juv. 5. 155, Mayor*s note, 

78. sapio mihi quod satis est = 

* sapio mibi satis.' ' Quod satis est ' an 
object clause. * Sapimus patruos ' i . 1 1 . 

mihi, emphatic. ' I am wise for 
myself/ I know my own interest» like 
' minui mihi ' 6. 64. ' Dives tibi, pauper 
amicis* Juv. 5. 113. 

79. Arcesilas, Dict. Biogr. 
aerumnosi, like KOKodai/Mjy, Aris- 

toph. Clouds (of Socrates) 105. 

Solones, pl. contemptuously. See 
I. 34 note. 

80. obstipo capite, Hor. 3 S. 5. 93. 

* Bent forward * Freund. 

figentes lumine terram, a 
stronger, and consequently more scomful, 
expression than *figentes lumina terra/ 
Jahn quotes a parallel from Stat. Silv. 5. 
I. 140 ^domum, torvo quam non haec 
himine £gat.* Casaubon compares Plato 
AIc. 3. p. 138 A tpaiv€i y4 roi kvicvBft»- 
mieivai rc Kot c2t yrjv fik4vuv, &s ri 
£vwoofliti€i>os. 

81. rabiosa silentia, 'a mad dog*s 
silence' (Hor. 3 £p. 2. 75), because mad 
dogs do not bark. &pwvo% Toimivav 
€lol . . x^j^' t^yfiov, Paul. Aegiu. 



5. 3, cited by Jahn. Compare Hom. 
II. 3. 317 foU., referred to by Jahn, 
ardaKtv, {nrat dk iS«rK€ Karii xBov^ 
SixfJuiTa frfi^as, 2^irrpov 8* ot;r* diriffOif 
oiT€ rrpowprjvis ivitijta, 'AXX' doT€fuf>U 
^Xco^xcv dtdp€i iporrl ioiK&s* ^alris kw 
(dKOT^v Tiva i/iix€vai dnppovd r' avToas, 
Persius may have had the picture in his 
mind. 

rodunt, ' biting the lips and grind- 
ing the teeth.' Whether ' murmura ' and 
* silentia ' are acc. of the object pr cog- 
nates is not clear. 

82. ezporre,cto .. labello. Jahn 
compares Lucian Hermot. 1. 1 ira2 rd xcl\i7 
8<c(rdX.cvct ^pifM vitOTov$op6(oafv, Cas- 
aubon compares Aristaenetus £p. 3. 3 

ijpifM TOf X^^V ^'■^^^ ^ ^''^<^ ^irov 
vphs kavThv ypiBvpi^^i, 

trutinantur verba is copied no 
less than five times by Jerome (for the 
references see Jahn), who however mis- 
takes the sense, as if Persius were speak- 
ing of inilated talk, not of slow balanced 
utterance. 

83. * Aegri somnia * Hor, A. P. 7. 
Jahn explains aegroti veteris like 
•aegri veteris* Juv. 9. 16, one who has 
long been ill — a confirmed invalid ; but it 
seems better to suppose that Fersius 
means to combine the dotings of age with 
the wanderings of disease. 

84. * Nullam rem e nilo gigni divi- 
nitus unquam * is the first principle of the 
epicurean philosophy, according to Lucr. 
I. 150; but it was common to various 
schools. See Munro ad loc. Casaubon 
quotes Marc. Anton. 4. 4 ovZ\v 1« tov 
/ifjb^vbs ipx^Toi, &av€p ixffi* c2« rd ovir 
hv dvipx^Tai, 

in nilum, etc. ' Haud igitur pofr* 



66 



PERSII 



hoc est^ quod palles? cur quis non prandeat,. hoc est?' 85 
His populus ridet, multumque torosa iuventus 
ingeminat tremulos naso crispante cachinnos. 

^lnspice; nescio quid trepidat mihi pectus et aegris 
faucibus exsuperat gravis alitusj inspice, sodes!' 
qui dicit medico, iussus requiescere, postquam 90 

tertia conpositas vidit nox currere venas, 
de maiore domo modice sitiente lagpena 
lenia loturo sibi Surrentina rc^abit. 

^Heus, bone, tu palles!' ^^Nihil est." . ^Videas tamen istuc,. 
quidquid id est: surgit tacite tibi lutea pellis/ 95 

^^ At tu deterius palles ; ne sis mihi tutor ; 



91. compottUaM. 



94. istud. 



tunt ad nilum quaeque reverti .... Haud 
igitur redit ad nilum res ulla : sed 
omnes Discidio redeunt in corpore mate- 
riai ' Lucr. i. 348 foll. Here the repeti- 
tion is meant to be ludicrous, as in i. 27. 
Jahn. 

85. Casaubon quotes Sen. Ep. 48, 
who exclaims seriously, * O pueriles in- 
eptias t in hoc supercilia subduximus ? in 
hoc barbam demisimus? hoc est quod 
tristes docemus et pallidi?' which seems 
to show that * quod palles ' is to be ex- 
plained here as a cogn. acc. 

cur quis non praodeat. * /m- 
pranu correptus voce magistn ' Hor. 2 S. 
3. 257. 'Prandium* was peculiarly a 
military meal, so it is mentioned bere 
fcelingly. * Medo prandente * Juv. 10. 
178. See De Quiucey, Casuistry of 
Roman Meals (Seiections, vol. 3), who 
mistakes the present passage, doubtless 
quoting from memory, though right iu 
his general view. With the whole line 
compare Juv. *j, 96 * tunc utile multis 
Pallere, et vinum toto nescire Decembri.' 

86. his .. ridet. Not a very common 
use of the dative. * Dolis risit Cytherea 
repertis' Virg. Aen. 4. 128. Jahn com- 
pares Hor. 2 S. 8. 83. 

multum, probably with 'torosa,' as 
Jahn takes it. 

torosa, an epithet of the necks of 
catt]e, Ov. M. 7. 429. 

torosa iuventus contrasts with 
* insomnis et detonsa iuventns * v. 54, as 



being naturally the approving audience of 
the soIdier's speech. 

87. The description is not in the 
best taste, as the minuteness is not in 
itself pleasing, at the lame time that 
it does not contribute to the oontempt 
which the picture is meant to ezcite. 
The grandiloquence of expression rather 
recalls such sea pieces as CatuU. 64. 273 
' leni resonant plangore cachinni,' Val. FL 
I. 311 * Alma novo crispans pdagus Tita- 
nia Phoebo.' 

tremulos seems intended to express 
the appearance of the sneering laugh as it . 
runs down the nose, as well as its sound. 
Freund says the intransitive use of 'crispo'' 
is confined to the pres. participle, of 
which he quotes two instances from Pliny. 
The line is altogether a strange one, sug- 
gesting the notion of affected and effemi-. 
nate laughter, such as inight be expected 
from a company like that mentioned . 
I. 19, not the 'crassum ridet' (5. 190) 
of a military auditory. 

88-107. *A man feels ill — con- 
sults his physician, who recommends quiet 
and abstinence — obeys for three days — 
then, finding himself better, procures wine 
to drink after bathing. A friend caution» 
him on his way to the bath, but the 
advice is scomed — ^he bathes upon a fiill 
stonuch — drinks — is seized with shivering 
— rejects his food — and in course of time 
makes the usual end, and i» buried.' 

88. A story of real disease — ^told to 



SAT. III. 



67 



to nothing. Is this a tfaing to get pale on ? is a man to go without 
his dinner for this?' Aye, and folks are amused at him, and the 
big brawny brotherhood send rippling waves of laughter again and 
again through their curled nostrils. 

* Examine me. I have a strange pdpitation at heart. My throat 
is amiss, and foul breath is rising from it. Pray, examine me.' 
Suppose a patient to say this to his physician, and be told to keep 
quiet, and then when the third night has found the current of his 
veins steady, to have sent to a great house with a flagon of mode- 
rate swallow for some mellow Surrentine before bathing. ' My 
good sir, you look pale.' * O, it's of no consequence.' * You had 
better attend to it, though, of whatever consequence it may be; 
your skin is getting insensibly bloated and quite yellow.' *I tell 
you you're paler than I am; don't come the guardian over me; 



show what indulgence and want of self* 
command can do. * Inspicere morbum/ 
of medical examination. Plant. Pers. a. 

5. 15. 

nescio quid, a cogn. acc. after 

« trepidat/ 

89. faucibus, 'from the throat.' 
*Aequis' and *graTis' are the emphatic 
words, as there is nothing strange in 
bieath rising from the throat. 

exsuperat neuter. *gxsvperant 
fiammae.' Virg. Aen. a. 759. 

90. qui dicit is introduced just in the 
same way, Hor. i Ep. 17. 46 foU. * ** In- 
dotata mihi soror est, paupercula mater, 
£t fundus neque vendibilis nec pascere 
firmus/' Qui dicit, clamat *'Victum 
date.*' ' 

requiescere. Gomp. Celsus 3. 2 
'omnium optima sunt quies et abstinentia.' 

91. tertia . . nox, a critical time in 
attacks of ferer, though the danger was 
not over then, as the fever might be a 
quartan. Schol. Nebriss. referring to 
Celsus 3. 4. 

conpositas, predicate, taken with 
• currere/ 

currere, said of the vems, as con- 
taining blood. Jahn refers to Celsus 3. 6, 
who speaks of the veins as *lentae* or 
' celeriores.' 

92. de maiore domo. 'Maiopes' 
of the aristocracy, 1. 108 note. * Mamma 
quaeque domtts servis est plena superbis* 
Juv. 5. 66. The rich used occasionally to 
make presents of small quantities of ex- 
pensive wine to sick friends. 'Cardiaco 

F 



numquam cyathum missunu amico ' Juv. 
5. 32, quoted by Casaubon. 

93. lenia, * mellowed by age,' opp. 
to * aspera/ ' Ad mare cimi veni, ge- 
nerosum et lene requiro' Hor. i £p. 

15. 18. 

loturo. For the custom of drinking 
after bathing, Jahn compares Sen.£p. 132.6 
' Atqui frequens hoc adulescentium vitium. 
est, qui vires excolunt, ut in ipso paene 
balinei limine inter nudos bibant, imo po* 
tent/ Compare also Juv. 8. 168 * therma- 
rum calices/ and Mayor^s note. 

Surrentina (Hor. 2 S. 4. 55) was 'a< 
tfain light wine recommended for invalid» 
when recovering. Plin. 14. 6. 8., 23. i. 
20. Jahn. Pliny tells us that Tiberius 
used to say that the physicians had con- 
spired to raise the credit of Surrentine, 
which was in fact only *generous vinegar/ 
a name which Caligula improved upon by 
calling it * nobilis vappa.* 

94. A dialogue between the invalid 
and a friend who meets him on his way to 
the bath. 

95. surgit and lutea emphatic, also 
pellis, which is used instead of ' cutis/ as 
in Hor. £pod. 17. 22, Juv. 10. 192, to 
express the abnoimal condition of the 
skin, whidi lo6ks as if it did not belong 
to the man. With 'lutea* Jahn compares 
Hor. £pod. 10. 16 * pallor luteus,* Tibull. 
I. 8. 52 * Sed nimius luto coipora tingit 
amor.' 

96. ne sis mihi tutor. Imitated 
from Hor. 3 S. 3. 88 * ne sis patruus mihu' 
Britaxm. 



68 



PERSII 



iam pridem hunc sepeli : tu restas.** * Perge, tacebo/ 

turgidus hic epulis atque albo ventre lavatur, 

gutture sulpureas lente exalante mefites^ 

sed tremor inter vina subit calidumque triental 

excutit e manibus, dentes crepuere retecti, 

uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris. 

hinc tuba, candelae, tandemque beatulus alto 

conpositus lecto crassi^ue lutatus amomis 

in portam rigidas calces extendit: at illum 

hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites. 

Tange, miser, venas et pone in pectore dextram. 



lOO 



los 



97. aepelu. 



100. triiniem, 104. eompossUtis crassis om. que. 



97. Another imitatioiL Hor. i S. 
9 28 **'Oinnis conposui." '* Felices! 
nunc ego resto. Confice.*" If we 
may trust Isid. Orig. 10. 5, quoted by 
Jahn, ' Tuior: qni pnpillum tnetur, hoc 
est, intuetur : de quo in consuetudine 
vulgari dicitur, Quid immi moMS f et tutO' 
rem et paedagogum olim obrui* Persius 
seems to be repeating a piece of Roman 
slang. 

restas = * superstes es,* * you are 
above ground/ ' I have you to bury.' 

98. * Crudi tumidique lavemur ' Hor. 
I Ep. 6.61. 'Paene tamen praesens, 
cum tu deponis amictus Turgidus, et 
erudum pavonem in bahiea portas. Hinc 
subitae mortes, atque intestata senectus ' 
Juv. I. 142 foll. 

albo ventre, not coupled with 
epulis, but answering to turgidus. 
'Albo corpore' Hor. 2 Od. 2. 15, of the 
dropsy ; * pinguem vitiis albumque ' 2 S. 
2. 21. 'Vides ut pallidus <Mnnis Cena 
desurgat dubia * ib. 76. 

lavatur, middle. 

99. See V. 89. sulpureas is the 
proper epithet of ' mefites.' * Mefitis 
proprie est terrae putor qui de aquis nasci- 
tur sulfiiratis ' Serv. on Virg. Aen. 7. 84, 
where the ' saeva mefitis ' spoken of is a 
vapour arising irom the sulphureous spring 
Albunea, the source of the Albula, of 
which the modem name is la Solforata. 
Thus the whole line is rather grandilo- 
quent, like v. 87. 

100. sed tremor. Imitated from 
Hor. I £p. 16. 22 foll. ' occultam febrem 
sub tempus edendi Dissimules, donec 



mambus tremor ineidat unetis* 

inter vina, i. 30 note. 

calidum. The wine was heated, 
bdng drunk to promote perspiration. 
' Sudorem quem moverunt potionibus 
crebris et/erventibus* Seo. Ep. 122. 6. 

triental is restored by Jahn from 
two old MSS., and a gloss on a third for 
* trientem,' after Casaubon, who remarks 
that 'triens' is a liquid measure, ^ of a 
sextarius, * triental ' the vessel containing 
it. Martial however talks (10. 49. i) 
of ' amethystini trientes,* as Jahn ob- 
serves. The word seems to be found 
nowhere else, but it is supported by the 
analogy of * quadrantal.' 

loi. excutit (tremor). Ccxnpare 
V. 115. 

crepuere, because of the 'tremor.' 

retecti, because of the 'laxa labra.' 
Compare Prop^ 5. 8. 53 foU. 'Pocula mi 
digitos inter cecidere remissos, Palluerant 
ipso labra soluta mero.' 

102. His jaw drops, and he rejects the 
dainties he had lately gorged. 

pulmentaria, properly S^oy — any- 
thing eaten with faread as a relish: *tu 
pulmentaria quaere sudando ' Hor. 2 S. 2. 
30. Hence dainties. ' Veniet qui pul' 
mentaria condiat' Juv. 7> 185. 'Pulmen- 
tum' or * pulpamentum ' has the same 
meaning. ' Pulmento utor magis unctius- 
culo ' Plaut. Pseud. i. 2. 89, quoted by 
Casaubon. 

103. hinc, 'hereupon.' Freund s. v. 
Persius hastens to the catastrophe, giving 
the funeral first, and then the deatb. 

tuba. Hor. i S. 6. 42 foll. 'si 



SAT. III. 



69 



l've buried him long ago, and now Tve got you in my way.' * Go 
on, l'm dumb/ So our hero goes to his bath, with his stomach 
distended with eating and looking white, and a vapour of sulphu- 
rous properties slowly oozing from his throat ; but a shivering 
comes on over the wine, and makes him let fall his hot tumbler from 
his fingers ; his teeth are exposed and chatter ; the rich dainties 
come back again from his dropping jaws. The upshot is horn- 
blowing and tapers; and at last the deceased, laid out on a high 
bed and daubed with coarse ointment, tums up his heels stark and 
stiff towards the door ; and citizens of twenty-four hours standing 
in their caps of liberty carry him to the grave. 

* Poor creature yourself, feel my pulse and put your hand on 



plaustra ducenta, Concurrantqne foro tria 
funtra, magna sonabit Comua quod vin- 
catque tubas* Thc Twclve Tablcs pre- 
scribcd the numbcr of trumpeters. ' Deccm 
tibicincs adhibeto, hoc plus ne facito.' 
Comparc also Prop. 2. 7. 12., 5. Ii. 9, 
to which Konig rcfcrs. 

candclae, ' wax lights.' ' Toties in 
vicinia mca conclamatam est, totics prac- 
tcr limcn immaturas cxcquias fax ccreus- 
que praeccpit ' Scn. de Tranq. 1 1 . 7. Some 
have supposed that ' funalia ' wcre used at 
ordinary funcrals : ' ccrci ' or * canddae ' 
where the death was an untimcly onc, 
and Jahn seems to agree; but Casaubon 
rcjects the infcrcnce. 

bcatulns, fuueaplTijt, Jahn com- 
pares Amm. Marc. 25. 3 ' quem cum 
beatum fiiisse Sallustius rcspondisset prae- 
fectus, intellexit occisum.' The dimin. 
of coursc indicatcs contempt. * The dear 
dcpartcd.' 

alto, opp. *humi]i, to show his 
consequencc. Virg. Aen. 2. 2., 6. 603. 

104. conpositus. Hor. i S. 9. 28 
above quoted. 

crassis, ' contemptuously.' ' Cras- 
sum unguentum ' Hor. A. P. 375 : so 
lutatus. 

amomis. ' Amomo quantum vix 
reddent duo/unera ' Juv. 4. 108 foll. 

105. in portam. A custom as old 
as Homer (II. 19. 212) Kttrcu dvd vpoBvpov 
TtTpafi/Aivo9, Hcsych. 81' 1« BvpSiv. roh* 
r€iepobt ovTM <paoly kJip6(fix$ai i(w robt 
w69at txovra» vpht rcL» aifkiMb» 9vp&». 

106. hesterni .. Quirites. Slaves 
just manumitted by the dcceascd's will, 
or, as the Scholiast and Heinr. think, just 
bcfore his dcath. The sncer at thc cas/ 
acquisition of citizenship is repeatcd and 
dwelt on 5. 75 * Qyibus una Qji:ritcm 



Vertigo facit.* 

capite induto. Manumitted slaves 
used to shave their hcads and assume the 
• pileus.' • Faxit Jupitcr ut cgo hic hodie, 
raso capite, calvus capiam pilcum ! ' Plaut. 
Amph. I. i. 307. 

s u b i c r e . * Pars ingcnti subiere fere- 
tro* Virg. Acn. 6. 222. Casaubon. 

107-118. * You tcll me you have no 
discase — no fcver — no chill. But docs 
not thc hope of gain or of pleasure 
quickcn your pulsc ? Is not your throat 
too tender to rclish a coarse meal ? You 
are subject to shivering fits of fear and 
the high fcver of ragc, which makcs you 
rave likc any madman.' 

107. Thc man addressed, some person 
not spccified, * quivis media clectus turba,' 
rctorts that be hsLsno ailment, so that the 
moral against cxccss does not touch him, 
whcn hc finds that thc story is tjrpical 
and intendcd to havc a wider application. 

miser, retortcd, from v. 66. He 
goes through thc symptoms of such an 
attack as has just been described. 

venas, rcferring to v. 91. 

pcctorc, to V. 88. * Fccl my pulsc* 
Jahn quotes Scn. Ep. 22. i * non potest 
medicus per epistulas cibi aut balnei 
tcmpus eligcrc : vena iangenda eU* Cas- 
aubon refcrs to Julian. Misopogon (p. 88. 
cd. Mart. a. d. 1583), speaking of the 
story of Antiochus and Erasistratus the 
physician, who discovercd his passion for 
his stcpmothcr Stratonice. ravra 6p&v 
6 iaTp6t vpoor6rf€i r^ arkpvtp t^v x^^P^ 
leal kirfita Zttvw» ^ ieap!6ia icalt €(w Uto. 
In Valerius Maximus' vcrsion (5. 7) it is 
said, ' bracbium adolescentis dissimulantcr 
apprchendendo, modo vcgctiore, modo 
languidiore pulsa vcuarum comperit cuiul 
morbi aeger esset.' 



70 



PERSII 



< Nil calet hic' Summosque pedes attinge manusque. 
' Non frlgent/ Visa est si forte pecunia, sive 
candida vicini subrisit moUe puella, 
cor tibi rite salit? positum est algente catino 
durum holus et populi cribro decussa farina: 
temptemus fauces. tenero latet ulcus in ore 
putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta. 
alges, cum excussit membris timor albus aristas; 
nunc face supposita fervescit sanguis et ira 
scintillant oculi, dicisque facisque, quod ipse 
non sani esse hominis non sanus iuret Orestes. 



IIO 



"S 



Ii6. mbpottiia, iram. 



io8. ' There ts no iindiie heat or 
ezcitement.' Konig refen to CelsBS 
a.4. 

109. Compare 2. 53 foll., 4. 47. 

iio. vicini. Persins may have bcen 
thinldng of Hor. 3 Od. 19. 34 ' vieina 
seni non habilis Lyco/ so tfaat puella 
probably»'amica,' like 'mea pnella' in 
Catulltts. 

III. rites'solito more.' 'Is there 
no nnusnal palpitation?' See the passage 
from Julian just quoted. 

positum. *PonebaMi igitnr Tusco 
farrata catino ' Juy. Ii. 108. 

algente. Jahn contrasts *ealidum 
sumen' i. 53. 

TI3. durum, 'tough' — ^perhaps from 
insufficient boiling. * Ne gallina malum 
responset dura palato' Hor. a S. 4. 18. 

populi .. farina. Horace's 'panis 
secundus' (2 Ep. i. 133), otherwise called 
*cibarius' (Cic. Tusc. 5. 34), as the al- 
lowance giyen to slaves. ^Nigra farina' 
Mart. 9. 3. 4, opp. to ' siligtneus,* Sen. 



£p. 119. 3 *ntrum hic panis sit plebeius 
an siligineus ad natnram nihil pertinet;* 
* sifted through the common sieve/ which 
was coarser. 

populi, here=* plebis.' 

113. *Let us see how your palate is. 
Ahl your mouth is tender from a con- 
cealed inflammation.' 

tenero, emphatic, a sort of jve- 
dicate. 

latet ulcus, perhaps from Hor. 
I Ep. 16. 34 * Stultorum incurata pudor 
malus ulcera edat^ so as to remind us of 
the previous story, * a sore which jron 
have said nothing of to me, your medical 
adviser.' Persius has convicted his patient 
of palpitation — he now pioves that his 
mouth is inflamed — ^then shows that be is 
feverish — ^hot and cold altemately. 

114. plebeia .. beta, Iike*pams ple- 
beius,' quoted on v. II 3. The irony is 
kept up by the word *beta,' beet being 
proverbially tender. Suet. Aug. 87 quotes, 
as a peculiar ezpression, from Augustus' 



SAT. III. 



71 



my chest, there's no heat there ; touch my extremities, they're not 
cold.' Suppose you happen to catch sight of a bit of money, does 
your heart beat regularly then? Or say you have a tough vege- 
table mess served up on a cold dish, with meal sifted through the 
common sieve : now let us examine your palate : ah, you have a 
concealed putrid ulcer, which makes your mouth tender, and it 
won't do to let that coarse vulgar beet rub against it. So you 
shiver, when pale fear sets up the bristles all over you, and then 
when a fire is lighted undemeath your blood begins to boil, and 
your eyes sparkle with passion, and you say and do things which 
Orestes, the hero of madmen, would depose to be the words and 
actions of a. madman. 



correspondeace, ' beiizare pro languete, 
quod vulgo laebanizare dicitur/ 

radere, like ' tergere palatum ' Hor. 
2 S. 2. 24, compared by the Scholiast. 
Lucr. 4. 528, 532 'Praeierea radit vox 
/auces .... ianua radiiur oris.' 

115. excussit, of raising suddenly, 
but without separation. See i. 118 
note. 

aristas, proleptically; 'excussit pilos 
it ut aristis similes essent.' Jahn com- 
pares Varro L. L» 6. 49 ' tremor . . cxmi 
etiam in corpore pili ut aristae in spica 
ordei horrent.' Stocker compares with 
this and the following verses Lucr. 3. 288 
foll. *£st etiam calor ille animo quem 
sumit in ira, Cum fervescit, et ez oculis 
micat acribus ardor. Est et frigida multa 
comes formidinis aura, Qua ciet horro- 
rem membris, et concitat artus :' a curious 
passage in itself, illustrating Lucretius' 
theory of the composition of the soul or 
mind from heat, wind (or cold), and 
atmospheric air (tiie medium temperature) 
by the diiferent temperaments of different 
animab, and one too which Persius not 
improbably had in his mind. See next 



note. 

116. face supposita; perhaps from 
Lucr. 3. 303 ' Nec nimis irai/ax unquam 
subdita percit.' Persius' metaphor is from 
a boiling caldron : compare the simile in 
Virg. Aen. 7. 462 foU. ; and this may be 
the meaning of Lucr. 1. c. 298 * Nec 
capere irarum fluctus in pectore possunt/ 
which answers exactly to VirgiPs * nec 
iam se capit unda.' 

117. * Ira fuf or brevis est ' Hor. i Ep. 
2. 62. 

118. non sanus = ' insanus/ v. 46. 
The instance of Orestes is doubtless taken 
from Hor. 2 S. 3. 137 sq* ' Quin ex quo 
est habitus male tutae mentis Orestes, 
Nil sane fecit quod tu reprehendere possis/ 
where Damasippus argues that Orestes 
was mad when he killed his mother, not 
afterwards. But he was a favourite ex* 
ample of madness. Jahn refers to Plato, 
Alc. n. p. 143 D, and to Gell. 13. 4, who 
sajTS that Varro wrote a work * Orestes 
vel de Insania.' Comp. Plautus, Capt. 3. 
4. 30 * £t quidem Alcmaeus, atque Orestes, 
et Lycurgus postea Una opera mihi sunt 
sodales, qua iste.' 



SATURA IV. 



^Rem populi tractas?* barbatum haec crede magistrum 

dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutae 

^quo fretus? dic hoc, magni pupille Pericli. 

scilicet ingenium et rerum prudentia velox 

ante pilos venit, dicenda tacendaque calles. 

ergo ubi commota fervet plebecula bile, 

fert animus calidae fecisse silentia turbae 

7. eaUidae. 



Oh tbe VHUU of self-eommoHd and sdf- 
knowledge in puhlic men — a sort of con- 
Hnuation oftbe lcutSatire, being addressed 
to a tupposed representative oftbe age, hut 
complete in itself, Tbe general notion 
and a ftw of tbe expressions are taken 
from Plato's (?) First Aleihiades, but tbe 
treatment is not partieularly similar. Tbe 
gist of tbe wbole is eoniained in Alcibiades* 
tpeeeb in Plaio Sympos. p, 216 il, quoted 
by K6nig: 6»ayic&(€i ydp /xc 6fw\oy€iy, 
5n 90XX0V Jvdc^t &y airris iri kfMVTm) 
filp dfccXfltf, rd S' 'A0fjvaieay vp&rrn, 
Otber pbilosopbers appear /0 bave written 
dialogues of tbe kind {Brandis Rbein. 
Mus. I.p. 120/0//.), so tbat tbe subject, as 
Jabn remarks, was probably a stoek one 
in tbe scbools. Tbts would aecountfor 
Persius cboosing it, as it cannot bave been 
particularly appropriate to tbe time, tbere 
being nofield ai Rome for tbe display of 
popular statesmansbip, sucb as Persius re- 
presents in tbe early part of tbe Satire, 
w. I-16. Alcibiades is not Nero, os Brit. 
suggests, and Casaubon maintains at 
lengtb, but one of tbe young nohility, sucb 
as tbose deseribed in Sat. 3 — only placed 
in circumstances wbicb belong not /0 



Rome but to Atbens. Tbus tbe general 
eoncepiion of tbe Satire is suffieiendy 
weak; tbe working out, bowever, bas ail 
Persius* peculiar foree, 

1-22. 'Alcibiades would be a states* 
man, woald he? what are his qualifica- 
tions? Ready wit and intuitiTe tact, 
impressive action, a power of logical 
statement, and a certain amount oi philo- 
sophic training. But what is he in him- 
self? he has no end beyond his own 
enjoyment. Why, the meanest old crone 
knows as much.* 

1. Rem populi>"'rempubIicam.' 
Rem .. tractare, as in Enn. in Cic. 

de Orat. i. 45 ' ut ne res temere tractent 
turbidas.' 

barbatum .. magistrum is copied 
by Jur. 14. T2. Comp. Hor. 2 S. 3. 16, 
35, where the beard is the espedal mark 
of the Stoics. 

2. tollit for < sustulit.' So ' mutat' 2. 
60. Comp. Hor. i S.6. 13 'unde Super- 
bus Tarquinius regno pulsus fugit,' id, 2 
S. 3. 277 *Marius cum praecipitat se, 
Cerritos ftiit?' The line is modelled on 
2 S. I. 56 ' Sed mala tollet anum vitiato 
melle eieuta* 



SATIRE IV. 



* Do you charge yourself with the affairs of the nation ? ' Sup- 
pose this to be said by the bearded philosopher, whom the fatal 
draught of hemlock removes from the scene — *on the strength of 
what ? tell me, ward of the great Pericles as you are. Oh yes, of 
course ; ready wit and experience of business have been quick in 
coming, and arrived sooner than your beard : you know well what 
should be said and what not. And so when the lower orders are 
fermenting and the bile in their system beginning to work, the 
impulse within moves you to cause silence through the heated 



3. qno fretns, from Plato, Alc. i, p. 
135 E W oIJi' irar* iffriv 5ry mffredti t6 

magni pnpille Pericli is em- 
phatic, as Alcibiades' prestige depended 
very much on his connexion with Pericles, 
Plat. 1. c. p. 104 B (v/xwdvrw 8i Sv cTiror 
ftc/f« ofcc ffoi Hiuiuaiuv Mipxuv H€piK\ia 
rbv Bav0iwwov tv 6 mrilp kwirpoww «or^- 
\twi <r<A rc imL r^ (idcX^^. 

4. scilicet is here half ironical. 
The speaker does not mean to deny that 
Aldbiades has this ready wit and intuitive 
tact, bnt he affects to make more of it 
than it is worth. 

ingenium et rerum prudentia 
are from Virg. G. i. 416, ' talent and 
knowledge of life.' 

velox with *venit,* *has come ra» 
pidly.' Comp. Ov. A. A. 1. 185 * Ingenium 
caeleste suis velocius annis surgit.' 

5. ante pilos ; ' sooner than your 
beard,' a contrast with ' barbatum magis- 
trnm.' 

dicenda tacendaque callesismuch 
the same as Aeschylus' ffiydtv 6wov 9h koI 
Xiyttv rd lealpta (Cho. 582). The words 
are from Hor. 1 £p. 7. 73 Micenda ta- 



cenda locutus.' Konig quotes Quint. a. 
20, who seems to have had the present 
passage in his view, ' Si consonare sibi in 
faciendis et non faciendis virtutis est, quae 
pars eius prudentia vocatur, eadem in 
dicendis et non dicendis erit.' There is a 
slight resemblance between this line and 
the preceding, and Plato, p. 1 10 C, quoted 
by Casaubon, ^ou Spa iwiffraff$ai nat wom 
&Vt &9 lo{«c, rd dcmua ttdt rd SJHiKa, 

6. commota fervet . . . bile. Hor. 
I Od. 13. 4 ' fervens difficili bile.' Jahn. 

plebecula. Hor. 2 Ep. i. 186. The 
language is not unlike Virg. Aen. i. 149 
' saevitque animis ignobile vulgus.' Delph. 
ed. 

7. fert animus. Ov. M. 1. 1. ' You 
have a mind to try the effect of your 
oratory on an excited mob.' 

facere silentium, a phrase used 
either of the person who keq» silence, 
' huic faeietis fabulae sUendum ' Plaut. 
Amph. Prol. 15, or of the person who 
commands it, as here, and Tac. H. 3. 20 
* ubi adspectu et auctoritate silentium 
/ecerat,* The dative in the latter sense 
of the phrase has the same force as in 
/aeere negotium alieui, ttc. 



74 



PERSII 



maiestate manus. quid deinde loquere? ^Quirites^ 

hoc puta non iustum est, illud male^ rectius iUud." 

scis etenim iustum gemina suspendere lance 

ancipitis librae, rectum discemis, ubi inter 

curva subit, vei cum fallit pede regula varo, 

et potis es nigrum vitio praefigere theta. 

quin tu igitur, summa nequiquam pelle decorus, 

ante diem blando caudam iactare popello 

desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas! 

quae tibi summa boni est? uncta vixisse patella 

semper et adsiduo curata cuticula soie? 

expecta, baud aiiud respondeat baec anus. i nunc 



lO 



15 



8. loquireifir {tur in ras.)> 



9. ^mA). 



II. dieemu. 



16. mereeas. 



8. maiestate manns. Casauboncom- 
pares Lncan i. 197 'tnmultnm Conpo- 
sQitynltu,dextraquestlentiaiussit.* Heinr. 
compares Tac. Ann. i. 25 'stabat Drusus, 
silentium nunu poscens.' So Ov. M. i. 305 
'qui postquam voce manuque Murmura 
compressit, tenuere silentia cuncti.' 

quid deinde loquere? may per- 
haps be meant, as Jahn thinks, to show 
that the orator had not thought before- 
hand of what he should say. 

9. puta. Hor. 3 S. 5. 33. 

non iustum est. So Alcibiades in 
Plato, p. 109, is madc to admit that in deli- 
beratiye oratory rd £8c 4 ^< is cquiyalent 
to rb Hueaio» Ij dZliecai. Casaubon com- 
pares Hor. i S 4. 134 *rectius hoc est: 
Hoc faciens Yivam melius.' 

10. 'You have stndied philosophy.* 
Comp. 3. 53 foll. note, where the lan- 
guage is substantially the same. 

iustum is what is put into each 
scale of tbe bahince. *You can weigh 
the justice of one couise against that of 
another.' 

gemina . .. lances* geminis lanci- 
bus,' like * geminus pes ' Ov. A. A. a. 644. 

11. *You can distinguish right from 
the wrong on either side of it' — as there 
may be two opposite deviations from the 
perpendicular — a doctrine not anlike the 
Aristotelian theory of virtue as a mean, 
which Casaubon compares, *where it 
(the right line) comes in between the 
curves.* Comp. 3. 53^ 5. 38. 



13. The meaning seems to be *even 
(vel) when the rule misleads you by its 
deviation,* i.e. as Casaubon explains it, 
when justice has to be corrected by equity. 

pede, used apparently to suggest the 
notion of a foot measure. *Metiri se 
quemque suo modulo ac ^ede verum est' 
Uor. I £p. 7. 98. 

varo pOMiUy may denote that the 
rule brandKs into two parts. Comp. 6. 
18 *Geminos, horoscope, varo Prodncis 
genio,* and note. 

13. potis es. I. 56, note. 

theta ; O, the initial of 0dvarot, was 
the mark of condcnmation, apparently 
introduced firom Greece in place of C 
(*Condenmo'), which the judges used in 
Cicero's time. Isid. Orig. i. 3. B was 
also employed in epitapbs (Brambach*s C. 
I. Rhen. 391) and by the quaestors in 
stnking off dead soldiers' names from the 
roU, Mart. 7. 37. 3. The SchoUast and Isid. 
1. c. quote a line from an unknown writer, 
*0 multura ante alias infeliz Uttera 71>eta.' 
44. The monitor suddenly tums round 
on the wou1d-be statesman. *WiU you 
then be so good as to have done with 
that?' 

igitnr, as if it were the natural and 
expected consequence for aU the admis- 
sions in his favour that have been made. 
The real reason is given afterwards, v. 1 7. 

summa . . pelle decorus, imitated 
from Hor. i Ep. 16. 45 * Introrsus tur- 
pem, speeiosum pelle tUinra.* Comp. also 



SAT. IV. 



75 



assemblage by the imposing action of yoor hand. WeU, now that 
you have got it, what will you say ? * Citizens, this (say) is an in- 
justice, that is ill-advised ; of the three courses the third is nearer 
right.' Just so; you know how to weigh justice in the scales of 
the wavering balance. You can distinguish right where it comes in 
between the deviations on either side, even where the rule misleads 
you by its divarication, and you can obelize wrong with a staring black 
mark. Will you have the goodness, then, to stop, and not go on 
under the vain disguise of that goodly skin fawning so precociously 
on the mob that stookes you, when your better course would be 
to swallow the contents of all the Anticjrras undiluted? What is 
your conception of the chief good ? to live at a rich table every 
day and cultivate your dainty skin with constant sunning? Now 
listen " the old women here will give the same answer to the same 



a S. I. 64, alluding to snch hhles as tbe 
ass in the lion*s skin, etc, 5. 1 16. 

nequiquam, because you cannot 
impose on me. Comp. 3. 30. 

15. ante diem. 'You may be led 
into it some day, but at any rate do not 
anticipate things.' So 4. 5. 

•To be the peopIe's pet/ The 
Scholiast is quite right in supposing that 
Persius is thinking of a pet animsd that 
wags its tail, against Casaubon, who, on 
second thoughts, supposes the image to be 
that of a peacock, and Jahn, who suggests 
that it may be a horse. The action de- 
scribed is that of a dog, who fawns on 
those who caress him (blando; comp. 
Hor. 3 Od. II. 15 *Ces5it immanis tibi 
blandunH lanitor aulae;' * blandus' is ap- 
plied to the animal itself, Lucr. 4. 998, 
Ot. M. 14. 258), as in Hor. 2 Od. 19. 30 
Meniter atterens Caudam:' but Persins 
probably meant to allude to the weil- 
known comparison of Alcibiades to a lion's 
wj^elp, Aristoph. Frogs 1431 foll. Com- 
pare the description in Acsch. Ag. 725. 

popello, contemptuonsly, 0. 50., 
Hor. I Ep. 7. 65. 

16. Anticyras, freq. in Hor., 2 S. 3. 
83, 166., A. P. 300. The plural is used 
because there were two towns of the 
name, both producing hellebore, one in 
Phods, the other on the Maliac gulf— of 
course with an accompanying notion of 
ezaggeration. This is further brought out 
by using the town as sjrnonjrmous with its 
contents (comp. * Anticyram omnem' Hor. 
2 S, 3. 83). 

melior sorbere s 'quem sorbere 



melius foret.' Jahn. Comp. the Or. ex- 
pression IU/cai6t tlfu woitw tovto, 

meracas reminds us of another pat- 
sage, Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 137 'Expulit helle- 
boro morbum bilemque meraco.' Delph. ed. 

17. summa boniB^summumbonum,' 
just as 'summa rerum' and 'res summa' 
or 'summa respublica' are used con- 
vertibly. 

vixisse, the inf. used as a noun and 
so coupled with a subst., iis in i. 9., 3. 
53 sq. etc. 

patella. 3. 26. Possibly the re- 
ference may be, as there, to a sacrificial 
dish. Comp. Jahn's soggestion quoted on 
2. 41. For the general sense, comp. Hor. 
I Ep. 6. 56 foll. * Si bene qui cenat bene 
vivit, lucet, eamus Quo ducit gula,' quoted 
by Delph. ed. 

18. curare cutem, as in Hor. i £p. a. 
39., 4. 15, from whom Persius and Juv. 2« 
105 seem to have borrowed it. 

cuticula, contemptuously, like 'Pel- 
lictdam curare ' Hor. 2 S. 5. 38, where the 
dim. expresses luxury, as here, in sub» 
stitution of ' pellis ' for * cutis,' old age, as 
in note on 3. 95. Juv. imitates the line 
(11. 203) ' Nostra bibat vemum contracta 
cutieula solem' 

sole, with reference to the custom 
of basking ('insolatio' or 'apricatio') 
after being anointed, see Mayor on 
Juv. 1. c. 

19. expecta, Misten.' The hearer 
waiting for the words of the speaker. 
*Expecto si quid dicas' Plaut. Trin. i. 2. 
61. Jahn compares Sen. de Benef. 5. 12. i 
* Dicis me abesse ab eo, qut operae pretium 



76 



PERSII 



^Dinomaches ego sum/* sufla «sum candidus.'' esto; 
dum ne deterius sapiat pannucia Baucis, 
cum bene discincto cantaverit ocima vernae/ 

Ut nemo in sese temptat descendere, nemo, 
sed praecedenti spectatur mantica teigo ! 
quaesieris ^Nostin Vettidi praedia?' ^^Cuius?" 
^Dives arat Curibus quantum non miluus oberret/ 
^Hunc ais, hunc dis iratis genioque sinistro. 



30 



«5 



ai. patuweia, aa. ocyma. a^. diseeHdert, 2$. necHdi. 16. xAerrat. 



facit, Imo totam operam bona fide pcr- 
dere ? Expecta : etiam hoc yerius dicas.' 

19. i nunc, ironically — 'now then, 
after this proceed to do as you have 
done.' Hor. i £p. 6. 17., a Ep. a. 76. 

ao. Dinomaches ego sum. So So- 
crates in talking to Akibiades calls him b 
Awofti&x'!* ^^ Plato, p. 133 C. The 
mothcr being mentioncd in preference to 
the ^ithcr, Clcinias, becanse it wss through 
ber that he was connectcd with the 
Alcmaconidae. For the expression of the 
rclationship by thc gen. alone, see Madvig 
$ 380, obs. 4. Here it is doubtless used 
as a Greek idiom. 

suflas*dic suflatus' — ^to be con- 
nected dosely with * i nunc,' which in this 
form of expression is always foUowed by 
another imptrative, sometimcs with a co- 
pula, sometimes without. 

candidus, of beauty, as in 3. Iio. 
Madan compares Hor. 2 £p. a. 4 * Candidus 
et talos a vertice pulcher ad imos.' Alci- 
biades' beauty is admitted by Socrates 
(Plato, p. 104 A. qnoted by Jahn) ofci ycL» 
Sj^ cTrai 9/wrov /ih^ KAXXiarde rc Kei fi- 
yiOToe, Koi rovTo /i^y Di) warrl S^Kow 
IScrv 8ti oi ^ct^ci. 

ai. ' Only do not set up to be wiser 
than the old iady there.' 

pannncia (the spelling adnpted by 
Jahn from the MSS. for * pamiucea '), pro* 
perly ragged^ hence sbrivelled (used as an 
epithet of applcs, Plin. 15. 14. 15), wbich 
is evidently its mcaning here, to point the 
contrast with ' candidus.' 

Baucis (contrasted with * Dino- 
machcs '), a name chosen from the well- 
known story, Ov. M. 8. 640 foll., the 
point of which Kes in the contrast bc- 
tween the grandeur of the gods and the 
meanness of the peasants who were 



deemed fit to entertain them — *z person 
not more bdow you than Bauds wai 
bdow Jupiter.* 

aa. bene with discincto, like *bene 
mirae' 1. 1 1 1. Jahn. 

aa. cantaverit ocima is explatned 
Nebriss. and Casaubon as =» * dixerit oppro- 
bria,' on the strength of a passage in Piiny 
(19. 7. 36), whcre it is said that *ocimum' 
or basil, ought to be sown with curses, 
that it may grow up more abundantly. 
But this superstition fumishes but a slender 
warrant for so stiange an expression. It 
will be better then to follow the Scholiast 
and the other commentators, ancient and 
modem, who make the old woman a 

herb-sdler (^Axcx*'^^'^^'* ^'^® ^^ mother 
of Euripides), crying basil (*cantaverit' 
with reference to her whining note) to a 
lazy liquorish slave. Thcre is some doubt 
about the identity of * ocimum' (otherwise 
written ' ozimum,' * ocymum,* *odnum*), 
and Jahn thinks its reai nature cannot be 
exactly ascertained : it appears however 
from Pliny, ao. la. 48, to have been a 
stimulant, and to have been considered 
injurious by some people. The sense 
then will be that the old woman in trying 
to sdl doubtful hcrbs to low cnstomers is 
acting on the same iwinciide which Ald- 
biades has avowed, she would like to be 
idle and live well, and hcr iabours are 
directed to that end — she pleases her 
public and you yours. *Cantaverit' is 
probably mcant to have a force, as con- 
trasted with the modulated voice of the 
young orator; 'she knows the regular 
whine of the trade, just as you know the 
various intonations whfch belong to yours: 
and she is as persuasive as you.' But the 
explanation is not very satisfactory, and 
the line requires further ilhistration. 



SAT. IV. 



77 



question. Go, then, mouth it out. " My mother was a Dinomache. 
I inherit her beauty;" by all means, only remember that old shrivelled 
Baucis is just as good a philosopher as you, when she cries basil 
to a low creature of a slave.' 

* How utter, utter is the dearth of men who venture down into 
their own breasts, and how universally they stare at the wallet on 
the man's back before them I Suppose you ask, * Do you know 
Vettidius* property?' "Whose?" *That great proprietor who has 
estates at Cures which a kite cannot fly over.' " Him, do you mean ? 



23-41. *None of us knows himself — 
every one thinks only of his neighbour. 
Inquire about some rich man, and you 
will hear how he pinches himself; even 
on state occasions hardly bringing him- 
self to open a bottle of wine, which has 
been kept till it has turned to vinegar, 
to drink with his onions. But you with 
your luxury and eflfeminacy are laying 
yourself open to remarks of the sanie kind 
on your p)ersonal habits.* 

23. descendere in sese — •tocxplore 
the depths of his own bosom :* an exten- 
sion of the metaphor which attributes 
depth to the secrets of the mind. 

24. Jupiter, according to Phaedrus (4. 
10), has furnished every man with two 
waliets, one containing his neighbour's 
faults, to hang round his neck, the other 
containing his own, to hang behind his 
back. So Catull. 22. 21 *Sed non vide- 
mus manticae quod in tergo est.* Hor. 
2 S. 3. 299 ' Respicere ignoto discet pen- 
dentia tergo.' Persius improves on the 
image by giving every one a single wallet 
to hang behind him, and making him 
look exclusively at that which hangs on 
the back of his neighbour who is walking 
before. 

25. It is not easy to account for the 
distribution of the dialogue that follows. 

quaesieris apparently refers to the 
person who is addressed in the precediiig 
lines, and again in the following. From 
Tv. 42 sqq. it would seem to be Persius' 
object to expose the inconsistency with 
which he ridicules his neighbour's avarice, 
being himself guilty of vices of another 
kind. Yet vv. 27-32, which contain the 
picture of the miser, are spoken not by 
him but by the person to whom he is 
talking, unless we follow the Scholiast in 
dividing v. 27 *Hunc ais?* *Hunc,' etc, 
contrary to the natural meaning of the 
line. We must then either understand 
• quaesieris' loosely in the sense of * quae- 



sierit quispiam,' and reverse the order of 
the speakers, so as to leave vv. 27-32 for 
the representation of Alcibiades, or suppose 
that Persius means his hero not to ridicule 
the miser himself, but to listen while 
others do so, and flatter himself that 
nothing of the kind is said of ibtm, not 
knowing that the scandals of his own 
life are dwelt upon with quite as much 
relish. 

Vettidi is restored by Jahn for 
*Vectidi' on the authority of numerous 
inscriptions. 

Cuius? comp. 2. 19 *Cuinam?' 
The person questioned doet not know 
who is meant, till a description of the 
man is given. 

26. aro, in the sense of possessing 
arable land. Hor. Epod. 4. 13, referred to 
by Jahn ^AroA Falemi mille fundi iugera.' 

Curibus, possibly mentioned, as 
Jnhn thinks, to remind us of the old 
Sabines and their simple life, which tl^e 
miserly owner of the * latifimdium' cari- 
catures so grossly. 

quantum non miluus oberret. 
Imitated by Juv. 9. 54 foll. • Cui tot mon- 
tis, tot praedia servas Apula, tot nUluos 
intra tua pascua lassos.* According to 
the Scholiast * quantum milui volant ' was 
a proverbial expression for distance. Jahn 
in his text of 1868 reads *errat' from some 
ofhislater MSS. 

27. dis iratis for *Deos iratos haben- 
tem.' *Iratis natus paries Dis atque 
poetis' Hor. 2 S. 3. 8. 'Dis inimice 
senex' is Horace's address to a miser, 
V. 1 23 of the same Satire. There, as here, 
the expression seems to imply folly or 
madness, as in Ter. Andr. 4. i. 40 *mihi 
deos satis Scio fuisse iratos, qui auscuha- 
verim/ which Jahn compares. 

genio sinistro, as refiising the en- 
joyments which his nature claims, see note 
on 2. 3. The Scholiast compares Ter. 
Fhorm. i. i. 10 *Suum dejraudans ge- 



78 



PERSII 



qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad Gompita figit, 
seriolae veterem metuens deradere limum 
ingemit : hoc bene sit ! tunicatum cum sale mordens 
caepe et iarratam pueris plaudentibus oUam 
pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti ? '' 
ac si unctus cesses et figas in cute solem, 
est prope te ignotus, cubito qui tangat et acre 
despuat ^hi mores! penemque arcanaque lumbi 
runcantem populo marcentis pandere vulvas! 
tu cum maxillis balanatum gausape pectas, 
inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio extat? 
quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria vellant 
elizasque nates labefactent fi^rcipe adunca, 
non tamen ista filix uUo mansuescit aratro/ 



30 



35 



40 



a8. eompia. (« SDpencr.) 
36. bulwu. 

tttum^ compersit mifer:' the Delph. ed. 
comparci Plant Tnic. I. a. 87 'Isti qui cum 
geniis sais beUigerant pardpromi/ which 
u the same as tbe prosaic * ventri Indico 
bellum' of Hor. i S. 5. 7. The whole 
Itne is imitated by Juv. lo. 129 'Dis ille 
adyersis genitus fatoque sinistro.' 

a8. Referring to tbe feast of * CompK 
talia* (see Dict. Antiqq.), one of die 
rustic holidays, like the ' Paganalia * 
(Prol. 6) and the «Palilia* (i, 72), cele- 
brated with sacrificcs and games. ' Ut 
quoque turba bono plaudat signata (?) 
magistro, Qui facit egregios ad pervia 
compita ludos' Calp. 4. 135 foll. To these 
Hor. refers i Ep. i» 49 ' Quis circum pagos 
et circum compita pugnaz.' The yoke was 
hung up, with the other parts of the plough, 
as a s^rmbol of the suspension of labour. 
' Luce sacra requiescat humus, requiescat 
arator, £t grave, suspemo vonure cesset 
opus. Solvite vincla iugis' TibuU. 3. i. 5 
foU. ' Rusticus emeritum palo suspendai 
aratrum* Ov. F. i. 665. ' Figere* is ge- 
nerally used where the implements are 
hung up permanently. ' Armis Her- 
Qilis ad postem Jisns* Hor. i £p. i. 5. 
* Armaque Jixit Troia* Virg. Aen. i. 
248. 

pertusa, * Merito, quia per onmes 
quatuor partes pateant' Schol. ; equivalent 
to * pervia' in.Calp. l. c. ♦Pertunderc* is: 



33.yWcaf. 



37. hme. 



35. dispuat. 



Qsed for «to make a passage through' 
Lucr. 4. ia86 foil. 'Guttas in saza ca- 
dentes Humoris longo in spatio periunderm 
saza/ and so 'pertusum vas' id. 3. 1009,^ 
of the bottomless tub of the Danaides. 
The line then means 'at each retum of 
the Compitalia.* 

'29. Cato R. R. 57, referred to by 
Jahn, bids the farmer give each slave at 
the * Compitalia' a congius of wine over 
and above the usual allowance. 

1 i mu s is explained by the Sdioliast and 
most of the commentators, of the pitch or 
other substance with which the jars were 
daubed ('linebantur' Hor. I Od. 20. 3): 
Jahn however understands it more simply 
of the dirt which would naturally adhere 
to it after so long keeping. 

30. bene sit was a common form of 
drinking healths. *Bene vos, bene nos, 
bene te, bene me, bene nostram etiam 
Stephanium' Plaut. Stich. 5. 4. 27 ; also 
with the dative of the person, 'Bene mihi, 
bene vobis, bene amitae meae' id. Pers. 5. 
I. 20 ; a wish {orfuture blessines. * Bene 
est' is a common phrase for the present 
pleasures of the table. 'Bene erat non 
pisdbus urbe petitis, Sed pullo atque 
haedo' Hor. 2 S. 2. 120. Jahn. *Bene 
erat iam glande reperta' Ov. F. 4. 399. 
Casaubon. Here it is a sort of grace, 
uttered with a groan by the miser, who- 



SAT. IV. 



79 



the aversion of the gods and the enemy of his genius, who, when- 
ever he fastens up the yoke at the feast of crossroads and thorough- 
fares, in the extremity of his dread of scraping oflf the ancient 
incnistation from his dwarf wine jar, groans out, *May it be for 
the best!' as he munches onions, coats and all, with salt, and 
while his slaves are clapping their hands with ecstasy over the mess. 
of meal, gulps down the mothery lees of expiring vinegar." 



fears he is doing wrong in dntwing the 
wine, * May it turn out well* or • bring a 
blessing/ like Agamemnon*8 c9 ^dp cfi;, 
when he consents to his daughter's death 
(AjBsch. Ag. 216). 

tunica is used by Juv. 14. 153 
* tunicam mihi malo lapini/ and else- 
where, of the pod or husk of a vegetable : 
but there is probably some humour in- 
tended in the use of the participle, which 
was an ordinary epithet of the common 
people (Hor. l £p. 7. 65), perhaps like 
Horace'8 'caepe trucidas' (l £p. la. ai), 
a reference to the Pythagorean reverence 
for vegetable life. The onions of course 
are eaten with their skins as more filiing, 
80 that there may be no waste. 

31. farratam.. ollam, a dishof 'puls/ 
a pottage made from spelt, the national 
dish of tbe Roman husbandmen. Comp. 
Juv. 14. 171 'Grandes fumabant pultibus 
c^ae/ and Mayor's note. The * puls * 
itself is called * farrata * Juv. 1 1. 109. 
The plaudits of the slaves (' pueri') com- 
mon on these occasions of licence, as an 
acknowledgmcnt to the founder of the 
feast (see Calp. quoted on v. 28), are 
here bestowed on a meal which other 
labourers get every day. The ablative is 
supported by three MSS., two of them 
old: but the great majority is in ^vour 
of the accusative, which besides is the 
more diHicult reading. Jahn compares 
Stat. Silv. 5. 3. 140 *Nec /ra/rem caestu 
virides plausere Therapnae.' 



32. pannosam, 'mothery.' 'Aridaac 
pannosa macies' Sen. de Clem. 2. 6; 
comp. by Jahn. 

m o r i e n t i 8, * ungtienta moriuntur ' 
Plin. 13. 3. 4, lose their strength. Hor. 
2 S. 3. 116 says of a miser 'acre potet 
acetum,' wine which has become mere 
vinegar: but Persius, as Casaubon remarks, 
strengthens every word — not 'acetum' 
merely, but ' pannosam faecem aceti mo- 
rientis,' the very vinegar-iiavour being 
about to disappear. 

33. unctus cesses. *Ce$$are^ et lu- 
dere, et ungi* Hor. 2 £p. 2. 183. See 
note on v. i8. 

figas in cute solem, a strong 
expression for * apricari.* £xpo8e your- 
self to the piercing rays (*tela') of the sun 
— what Juv. II. 203 and Mart. 10. 12. 7 
express more genially by ' bibere ' or 
* combibere solem.' 

34. * You may be sure that some one 
is making reflections on you which you 
little dream of.' 

cubito . . . tangat. ' Nonne vides 
(aliquis cubito stantem prope tangem 
Inquiet) ut patiens, ut amicis aptus, ut 
acer' Hor. 2 S. 5. 42. 

'He is as surely reflecting on you 
as if he were to jog you and niake his 
remarks in your ear.' 

acre despuere, like 'verum plo- 
rare* i. 90. 

35. mores, mode of life, l. 26., 2. 62 
note. 



8o 



PERSII 



i 



caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis. 
vivitur hoc pacto; sic novimus. ilia subter 
caecum vulnus habes; sed lato balteus auro 
praetegit. ut mavis, da verba et decipe nervos, 
si potes. ^Egregium cum me vicinia dicat, 
non credam?* Viso si palles, inprobe, nummo, 
si facis in penem quidquid tibi venit amorum: 
si puteal multa cautus vibice flagellas: 
nequiquam populo bibulas donaveris aures. 
respue, quod non es; tollat sua munera Cerdo; 
tecum habita; noris, quam sit tibi curta supellex. 



45 



50 



46. ettnu tum nsur. 



48. amarum. 



52. utnoris. 



42-52. *This is the way: we lash our 
neighbours and are lashed in tum. Ayail 
yourself of your prestige if you like, but 
remember that what men say of you is 
worthless, if you are really a libertine 
or a usurer. Better be true to yourself 
and leam your own weakness.' 

42. Casaubon seems right in supposing 
that Persius was thinking of Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 
97 ' Caedimur et totidem plagis consumi- 
mus hostem/ though the passage of arms 
is there a passage of compliments. * We 
are like archers in a battle, who shoot 
many arrows, and are ourselves exposed 
to many shots/ — the image being chosen 
so as to express the suddenness of the 
wounds, which come from unknown quar- 
ters. The arrows of the tongue are a 
sufficiently common metaphor. rSjv y^p 
fAtyoKojy ^ffvxwv 2c2« iAk h» dfcdprois 
Soph. Aj. 154. 

caedo seems to be used of wounJing 
with a missile weapon — e. g. of battering 
doors with stones, Cic. Verr. 2. i. 27. 

43. vivitur hoc pacto. *Isto non 
▼ivitur illic, Quo tu rere, modo ' Hor. i S. 
9. 48. Casaubon compares Hor. 2 S. 8. 
65 * Haec est condido vivendi.' 

sic novimus secms to be equiva- 
lent to * sic accepimus' or * sic didicimus/ 
— * such is our experience.' 

44. A continuation of the metaphor 
from battle. The archer receives a 
wound in the groin, and endeavours to 
conceal it with his belt, which is adomed 



with gold like that in Virg. Aen. 5. 312 
^lato quam circumplectitur avro Balteus* 
* Caecum vulnus' from Virg. Aen, 10. 733, 
where it is used of a wound in the back. 
In Virg. Aen. 12. 273 a man is pierced by 
a spear, *ad medium, teritur qua sutilis 
alvo Balteus.' The belt was used to sup- 
port the quiver, as in Aen. 5. 1. c. * You 
are touched, though you hide it, and fall 
back on your rank and popularity.' 

45. praetegit. *Pra§tegit aere caput' 
Prop. 4. 14. 12. 

ut mavis is from Hor. 1 S. 4. 21. 

da verba. 3. 19. 

decipe nervos, cheat your physica! 
powers (*nervos' as in 2. 41) by fighting 
on, as if you were not wounded. 

46. Imitated from several passages in 
Horace, as Casaubon remarks. The words 
are from 2 S. 5. 106 *£gregie factum 
laudet vicinia.' The matter from i £p. 
16. 19 foll. * Sed vereor ne cui de te plus 
quam tibi credas . . . neu si te populus 
sanum recteque valentem Dictitet, occul- 
tam febrem sub tempus edendi Dissimules.' 

47. Comp. 3. 109. 

inprobe, placed as in Hor. 2 S. 2. 
104, Lucr. 3. 1026. Jahn quotes Hor. 
2 S. 3. 78 * argenti pallet amore :* but the 
paleness here is sudden, not chronic. 

49. The traditional explanation of this 
line interprets it of exorbitant usury, as 
the mention of the puteal naturally sug- 
gests. Casaubon was apparently the first 
to reject it, as incompatible with his view 



S AT. . IV. 



8i 



We k^ep inflicdng wounds and exposing in our tum our own 
legs to shots. It is the understood rule of life, the lesson we have 
all of us leamt You have a concealed wound in your groin, but 
the broad fold of your belt hides it. Well, just as you please, play 
the sophist and cheat your physical j^owers, if you can do so. 
Why, when I have the whole neighbourhood telling me of my 
excellence, am not I to believe them?' If the sight of money 
makes you change colour, disreputable as you are, if in your zeal 
for the main chance you flog the exchange with many a stripe, it 
will do you no good to have made your thirsty ears the receptacle 
of popular praise. No ; reject what is not ytm ; let Hob and Dick 
take their presents back again ; live at home, and learn how 
slenderly fumished your apartments are. 



\ 



that Ncro is the objcct of thc Satire, him- 
fdf understanding it of the cmperor's 
habit of going out at night in disguise 
and assaulting people in the strects, as 
recordcd by Tac. A. 13. 45, SucL Ncro 
76. Recent commentators, in cxploding 
thc notion of any rcfcrcnce to Ncro, have 
retumed to the old view, though Jahn so 
far modifies it as to supposc ^c allusion 
to bc to the practor*s tribunal at the 
INiteal (Hor. 2 S. 6. 30), explaining • fla- 
gellare puteal' of a litigious person who 
endcavours to gain his suit at any cost. 
Thc question is a difficult one : but if we 
make * flagcllarc ' mctaphorical, therc 
seems no reason why wc should not 
understand it of usury. A usurer would 
naturally be called thc *scourge of the 
exchange,' as Hor. i £p. 15. 31 calls 
Macnius *Pcmicies ct tempestas bara- 
thrumque macelli.' 

multa .. . vibice is an omamental 
extension of thc mctaphor aftcr the man- 
ner of Persius. Whdlicr wc can assume 
a special technical scnse of 'flagellarc' on 
the strcngth of Pliny 33. 13. 57, Mart. a. 
30. 4, as Jahn and Frcund think, is very 
doubtful : in thc former passage *flagtllat 
annonam,' of forestallcrs and rcgraters, 
may be undcrstood as hcre, * makcs him- 
sclf the scourgc of thc markct,' while in 
the othcr, ' laxas arca flagelUu opes,' the 
word may refcr to ' laxas,' and nccd only 



signify *coercet;* 'prohibet nc latius eva» 
gcntur.' 

50. bibulas. From thc common 
phrase * aure bibere' or * haurire.' 

donaveris. A variety for 'aurcs 
darc,' 'pracbcre,' 'commodarc' (sce 2. 
30), with an additional notion of absolute 
resignation. 

51. tollat sua muncra, probably 
rcferring to Hor. I Ep. 16. 33 sqq. • Qui 
dedit hoc' (a good namc) *hodic, cras, si 
volet, auferet : ut si Detulerit fasces in- 
digno, dctrahct idem: Pone, mcum cst, 
inquit : pono, tristisque reccdo/ 

cerdo, teipdeaVf secms to havc bcen 
a propcr namc, given to siaves and com- 
mon pcoplc, so that it naturally stands for 
onc of thc rabble, the * Hob and Dick' of 
Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Perhaps it had 
bctter be writtcn with a capital, both hcre 
(compare •Baucis,' v. 21) and in Juv. 4. 
153 (opp. to 'Lamia,' v. 154), 8. 182 
(opp. to * Volesos Brutumque,' ib.), The 
notion that it mcans a cobblcr seems to 
be founded on Martial, 3. 59. i., 99. i., 
wherc it is coupled with * sutor,' as it is 
with ' fabcr,' in an inscription in Spon's 
Misc. p. 231, referrcd to by Jahn. 

52. tccum habita. Comparc Arist. 
£th. N. 9. 4 <rwSidy€iv 6 toiovtos kavnf 
fio^Kfrai, Hor. 2 S. 7^12 'Non horam 
tccum esse potcs.' • Curtae nescio quid 
sempcr abest rei ' Hor. 3 Od. 24. 64. 



i 



SATURA V. 

Vatibus hic mos est, centum sibi poscere voces, 
centum ora et linguas optare in carmina centum, 
fabula seu maesto ponatur hianda tragoedo^ 
vulnera seu Partbi ducentis ab inguine ferrum. 
^Quorsum haec? aut quantas robusti carminis ofias 
ingeris, ut par sit centeno g^tture niti ? 



4. WdUCtKAm 



5. tubutd. 



To Comuhu, Tbt poet aeknowhdges 
bis obligations to bis old iutor, and des- 
eants on tbe Stoie doetrine o/ tnoral free^ 
dom^ protfing Aat all tbe world are slaves^ 
as SterAnius in Hor, 2 S, 3, proves to 
Datna&ippus tbat all tbe world are mad- 
men. Tbe subject is tbe same as tbat of 
Hor, 2 S, J, tbe dialogue between Horace 
and DavuSf and tbe treatment not unlike, 
Jabn bas summed up tbe few partieulars 
known about Cornutus, Prolegomenat pp, 
8-27. L. Annaeus Comutus was bom 
at Lepta^ fiourisbed at Rome under Nero 
as a tre^ic po^, like Seneca, a gram- 
marian (autbor of a eommentary on Vir- 
gily some fragments ofwbicb are preserved 
by Servius, ofid of a treatise, De FigDiis 
Sententiarum) and a Stoic pbilosopber 
{autbor (f a wark against Atbenodorus 
cmd ArisMle, and ^ anotber on tbe 
Tbeology of tbe Greekst wbicb still exists 
as a meagre epitome), Tbe name Annacns 
renders it probable tbat be was a freed- 
man of tbat fanuly, especiaUy as Lucan is 
known to bave been one ofbis pupils, He 
was banisbed by Nero, under tbefoUowing 
eircumstances, Tbe emperor bad a plan 



qf writing tbe bistory of Rome, in verse^ 
from Romulus doumwards, and consulted 
Comutus, among otbers, about tbe number 
of books qf wbicb tbe poem ougbt to consist, 
Some of bis flatterers suggested 400. 
Comutus repHied tbat it would be too 
many for any one to read, It was re- 
torted, * Butyour great pbilosopber, Cbry^ 
sippus, wrote mar^ more* ' True* said 
Cornutus, *but tbey do some good to 
mankind,* Nero, enraged, first tbougbt 
qf putting bim to decSb, but eventually 
banisbed bim to an island. • 

1-4. Persius. 'Poets are aHowed to 
wish for a hundred tongues when they 
have any great effi:>rt to make, either 
tragic or epic* 

I. * Regibus hic mos est' Hor. I S. 2« 
86. 

centum, etc. ; the fountain is Hom. 
U. 2. 489 oub* cf fAoi b4tca iikv yk&aacu, 
biiea bk ar^fMT cfcv. Hostius, a con- 
temporary of Caesar, author of a poem 
on the wars of Istria, wished, for 100, 
*Non si mihi linguae Centum atque ora 
sient totidem vocesque liquatae' (Macrob. 
6. 3), and so Virg. G. 2. 43, speaking of 



SATIRE V. 



It is a standing nile with poets to put in a requisition for a 
hundred voices, to bespeak a hundred mouths and a hundred 
tongues for the purposes of song, whether the work before them 
be a play to be mouthed by some dolorous tragedian, or the wounds 
of the Parthian dragging the dart from his groin. 

* What do you want with things like this ? What are these lumps 
of solid poetry that you have to cram, big enough to justify the 
strain of a hundred-throat power ? Let those who mean to talk 



tsees and their cultivation, Aen. 6. 625, 
pf crimes and their punishmcnt in Tai^ 
tarus. 

3. • Whether the subject proposed be.* 
ponatur, not as in i. 70 (which Jahn 

^ompares), to set up a thing as complete, 
but to set before one as a thing to be 
done. See Freund s. v. and compare ^cryoi, 

hiand^* Plt>p. 3. 33. 6 *Visus . . 
tacita carmen biare l^rra.* Aesch. Ag. 910 
Xa/uuircTis fio&fUL irpocxovy* kfwl, 

4. Imitated from Hon 2 S. i. 15 ' Aut 
labentis equo describat vulnera Partbi,* 
which affords a presumption (not a cer- 
tsrinty, as Persius sometimes takes Horace*s 
words without his meaning) that vulnera 
.. Parthi is to be explained in the same 
manner here, of the wounds received by 
the Parthian. 

ducentis, etc. will then be parallel 
to *labentis equo/ — *drawing from his 
wounded groin (see 4. 44) the dart that 
has pierced tum,*' — a picture likely enough 
to appear in an Epic poem (compare such 
passages as Virg. Aen. 10. 486), and suffi- 
ciently flattering to Roman vanity. This 



seems on the whole preferable to the 
interpretation mentioned by Ascens., and 
adopted by Nebriss., Casaubon, Konig, 
and Heinr., which makes * vuhiera Parthi* 
the wounds given by the Parthian, and 
*ducentis,' etc. either *drawing the bow 
from the groin,' instead of from the 
shoulder, or *taking an arrow from the 
quiver,* which the Eastem nations carried 
near the groin. 

5-18. Comutus. *What do yo« want 
with a hundred mouths? You are not 
going to write foolish tragedies, puffing 
Uke a pair of bellows, or croaking like a 
raven. Yours is the more prosaic walk 
of everyday satire.* 

5. Quorsum haec? Hor. 2 S. 7. 21. 
quantas, apparently = * quas tantas,* 

constmcted with *• ut.* 

robusti, strong, sturdy, as if of 
food. Comp. 'grandi polenta' 3. 55 
note. 

offa, *a lump,* whether of meal or of 
flesh. Freund s. v. 

6. i n g e r i s , ' cram .' * Saginandis anseri- 
bus polentae duas partes et fiirfriris qua- 
tuor . . . ingeruni * Pallad. i 30. 



G 2 



84 



PERSII 



grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto, 

si quibus aut Prognes, aut si quibus olla Thyestae 

fervcbit^ saepe insulso cenanda Glyconi; 

tu neque anhelanti, coquitur dum massa camino, 

fblle premis ventos, nec dauso murmure raucus 

nescio quid tecum grave cornicaris inepte, 

nec stloppo tumidas intendis rumpere buccas. 

verba togae sequeris iunctura callidus acri, 

ore teres modico, pallentis radere mores 

doctus et ingenuo culpam defigere ludo. 



lO 



15 



II. prinus. 



15. terU. 



6. centeno gutture, for ' centom gut- 
tnribus/ like *centena arbore' Virg. Aen. 
10. ao7 for * centum arboribus (remis).* 

gutture niti, 'to press upon the 
throat/ as is done in a difficult swallow. 
The image is burlesqued by supposing the 
mouth to be wanted for eating, not for 
ipeaking, and thus we are prepared for 
the * oUa Thyestae * and the ' plebeia 
prandia.' 

7. grande. i. 14. 

nebulas may be from Hor. A. P. 
330 *Aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et 
inania captet,* as Jahn thinks, especially 
as both are speaking of tragic writing. 
Compare also the conception of Aristo- 
phanes' Clouds, which Persius is not likely 
to have forgotten. To *colIect mists' it 
would be necessary of course to ascend 
the mountain. 

Helicone, as in Prol. i foll. * Let 
those who set up to be great poets avail 
themselves of poetical privileges/ which 
are generally mere moonshine. 

8. The stories of Tereus and Thyestes 
were common subjects of tragedy in 
Rome as well as at Athens. Attius wrote 
on both subjects. Varius was the author 
of a Thyestes and Seneca, whose play is 
extant. See also Juv. 7. 12. 73, Mayor's 
notes. Thyestes was one of Nero's cha- 
racters, Dio. 63. 9, etc. referred to by 
Mayor on Juv. 8. 228. The feast of 
Thyestes is mentioned twice by Horace 
as a stock tragic subject, A'. P. 91, 186, 
and Progne's name occurs similarly, v. 
187. 

9. fervebit .. cenanda, like 'discere 
.. laudanda' 3. 46. 



Glyco, as the SchoUast informs us, 
was a slave, the joint property of Vergilius, 
also a tragic actor, and some other pcrson 
— manumitted, on account of his great 
popularity. by Nero, who gave 300,000 
sesterces to Vergilius for his share in him 
— tall and dark, with a hanging lowef 
lip, and ill-Iooking when not dressed up — 
caUed *insulsus' from his inability to un- 
derstaud a joke. Persius doubtless means 
to ridicule the people through their fa- 
vourite actor, who was probably too tragic, 
and seemed as if he had really *supped 
full of horrors,' in spite of the frequent 
repetition of the process. 

10. Imitated, as the Scholiast re- 
marks, from Hor. i S. 4. 19 foH. * At tu 
conclusas hircinis follibus auras, Usque 
laborantes dum ferrum molliat ignis, 
Ut mavis, imitare.' Compare also Juv. 
7. II i (Jahn). The meaning is the 
same as Horace expresses elsewhere, 
A. P. 97, by * ampuUas et sesquipedalia 
verba.' 

anhelanti .. dum, *puffing while it 
is being done,' as * laborantes dum Hor. L c. 
«B * labouring till it is done.' 

massa. a. 67 note. 

11. No marked distinction seems in- 
tended between the three images of the 
bellows, the croaking, and the puffed 
cheeks. 

clauso murmure answers to pre- 
mis ventos (*concIusas auras' Hor. 1. c.) 
and to the process going on within the 
* tumidae buccae.' 

12. tecum .. cornicaris, an inten- 
sified variety of 'tecum loqueris,' the 
word (which is very rare, and perhaps 



SAT. V. 



85 



grandiose go and catch vapours on Helicon, if there be any who 
are going to set Progne or Thyestes' pot a-boiling, to be the stand*- 
ing supper of poor stupid Glycon. But you are not squeezing 
wind in a pair of panting bellows while the ore is smelting in tfce 
furnace, nor are you croaking mysterious nonsense to yourself in 
hoarse pent-up tones, nor straining and puffing your cheeks till 
they give way with a plop, No ; your line is to foUow the lan- 
guage of common life, with dexterous nicety in your combinations, 
ahd a moderate rounding of the cheek; your skill must be shown 
in rubbing against the bloated skin of morality, and pinning vice 
to the ground in sport which will do for gentlemen. Let this be 



found only in an imitation by Jeroroe, 
Ep. 95, referred to by Jahn) being sug- 
gested by raucus. 

grave is perhaps used here techni- 
cally of a deep bass sound, opp. to 

* acutus.' 

inepte, perhaps from Hor. A. P. 140 

• qui nii molitur inepte* where the simple 
opening of the Odyssey is contrasted with 
the * hiatus' of the cyclic poet, — • out of 
taste.' 

13. A graphic ampHfication, • more 
Pcrsii,* of Horace's * tumido ore* A. P. 94. 

stloppo, a word occurring nowhere 
else, perhaps coined by Persius, expressive 
of sound, like *bombus* l. 99 note. 
' Sdoppo dixit ficTcupopiieSts, a ludentibus 
pueris, qui buccas inflatas subito aperiunt, 
et totum simul flatum cum sonitu fun- 
dunt' Schol. The spelling *stloppo* in- 
stead of *scloppo,' which many MSS. 
give, is supported by Jahn from Priscian, 
1. 10. 565. 

iiitendis rumpere seems to be a 
mixture of ' intendis (temptas) rumpere ' 
and *intendis buccas dum rumpantur.' 
Compare 'buccae' Juv. 11. 34, for noisy 
talkers, whom Plautus (Bacch. 5. i. 2) 
calls *buccones;' *stloppo* with *rum- 
pere,' as the noise would be a concomi- 
tant of th& bursting. 

14. verba togae, like ' fabula togata* 
(Hor. A. P. a88), the talk of common lifo 
at Rome, opp.to the *praetexta,* the s)anbol 
of tragedy, and the *pallium,' which be- 
longed to Greek subjects. We must bear 
in mind the relation of satire to the old 
comic drama, asserted by.Persius himself, 
I. 123. The whole line is imitated from 
Hor. A. P. 47 * notum si edUida verbum 
Reddiderit iunchira novum' (compare also 
ib, 242 * Tantum series iuncturaque pollet, 



Tantum^f medio sumtis accedit honoris'), 
so that *notum' and *de medio sumtis' 
answer to * verba togae.* 

iunctura (the same metaphor as ia 
I. 65, 92, though the application there is 
to the flow of the verse) refers here, as in 
Horace, to the combination of words in a 
happy phrase or expression. 

acri is a well-chosen epithet, ex- 
pressing the nicety of the material pro- 
cess, as we use ' sharp,* at the same time 
that it denotes keenness of mind. 

15. ore teres modico. Jahn well 
compares 'ore rotundo* Hor. A. P. 323, 
which Persius doubtless was thinking of 
here and in v. 13. *Os tumidum* is an 
exaggeration of * os rotundiun,* the fuU- 
ness of the mouth in measured speech: 
but as Persius had gone beyond *tumi- 
dum,* he is here satisfied with something 
less than * rotundum.' 

modico qualifies teres, which itself 
denotes smoothness within compass. * Ora- 
tio plena, sed tamen teres* Cic. de Or. 3. 
52, *with shapely mouth, moderately 
rounded.* 

pallentis mores. 1.26 *En pallor 
seniuraquel O moresl* Here the pale- 
ness is doubtless that of dropsy and 
disease, as in 3. 94 foll. when any rough 
application to the skin would be acutely 
felt, Compare * radere teneras auriculas * 
I. 107, *radere ulcus in tenero ore* 3. 
114. 

16. ingenuo . . ludo answers to Aris- 
totle's definition of €VTpan€\ia (Rhet. 2. 
12) as ir€wai5€Vfi€VTf vfipi». No precisely 
similar instance of this use of * defigere * 
has been adduced, but it is apparently the 
same as that of *figere* in such phrases 
as 'figere aliquem maledictis/ with the 
additional notion of driving down. 



86 



PERSII 



hinc trahe quae dicis, mensasque relinque Mycenis 
cum capite et pedibus, plebeiaque prandia noris.* 
Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis 
pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fiuno. 
secreti loquimur; tibi nunc hortante Camena 
excutienda damus praecordia, quantaque nostrae 
pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice, 
ostendisse iuvat: pulsa, dinoscere cautus, 
quid solidum crepet et pictae tectoria linguae. 
hic ego centenas ausim deposcere voces, 
ut, quantum mihi te sinuoso in pectore fixi, 
voce traham pura, totumque hoc verba resignent, 
quod latet arcana non enarrabile fibra. 

Cum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit 



30 



n 



3^ 



l8. plibeaqui. 



19. puttatis. 



30. harguneat. 



36. bis. 



17. hinc, from common life, which is 
implied in the three preceding lines. 
Kontg compares Hor. A. P. 31 7 foU. ' Re- 
spicere exemplar yitae monimque iubebo 
Doctum imitatorem, et yivas hinc ducere 
voces.* 

Mycenis, a dative, like ' illis relin- 
quo' Prol. 5, which Jahn compares. 

18. cum capite et pedibus, which 
were put aside to show Thyestes what he 
had been eatinff : rd /ib^ wo^pfi ttat x^ 
pSay Aicpmn KTmM ^EOpvwr* &^^w Aesch. 
Ag. 1594» * Tantum ora servat et datas 
fidet manus* Sen. Thyest. Act. 4. 764., 
quoted by Casaubon. 

plebeia prandia. The fiill oppo- 
sition is between banquets of an unnatural 
sort in the heroic ages at Mycenae, known 
in these days only as stage-horrors, with 
no lesson for life, * raw head and bloody 
bones/ as Dryden renders it, and every- 
day meals (* prandia/ not ' cenae *) of the 
simplest kind, in common society at Rome, 
which show ordinary men as they are. 

noris, the conj. used imperatively, 
as in 4. 53, because *novi* has no impe- 
rative of its own. 

19-39. P. 'No — I have no thoughts 
of swelling and vapouring. My song 
is meant to show my heart to yoo, that 



yoo may see how troe it is, how de~ 
voted to you. If I want a hundred 
tongues, it is that I may tell you how 
dear you are to me.* 

19. Heinr. and Jahn restore 'pullatts' 
Irom the larger nomber of MSS., including 
the oldest, and suppose the meaning to be 
' sad-coloured/ i. e. tragic. It does not 
appear, however, that 'pollatus' is ever 
applied to tragedy, though commonly 
used of mourners : it answers more nearly 
to ' sordidatus,' and in fact is frequently 
applied to the common people, ' Ne quis 
pullatorum media cavea sederet,' Suet. 
Aug. 44; a most onfortunate association 
here, unless we can believe with Casaubon 
that ' nugae poUatae ' mean triiies that 
please the vulgar. Unless then ' pullatis ' 
be a mistake for ' ampullatis,* which may 
be worth considering, we must return to 
the common reading ' buUatis,' which has 
very respectable MS. support, and ez- 
plain it by 'turgescat.' 'BuUatus' ordi- 
narily means ' flimished with bullae,' but 
it may mean 'formed like a bubble,' 
'sweUing,' just«as 'falcatus' means both 
'fumished with a sc^rthe,' an epithet of 
'currus,' and 'formed like a scythe,' 
* crooked,' an epithet of ' ensis.' ' Air- 
blown trifies/ GifFord. 



SAT. V. 



87 



your storehouse of materials; leave Mycenae its feasts with their 
baskets of extremities, and make yourself at home at the early 
dinners of common Roman folk/ 

No, my aim is not to have my page distended with air-blown 
trifles, with a trick of making vapoiu* look solid. My voice is for 
■a private ear ; it is to you, at Ihe instance of the Muse within me, 
that I would ofFer my heart to be «ifted thoroughly; my passion 
is to show you, Comutus, how large a share of my inmost being 
is yours, my beloved friend ; strike it, use every test to tell what 
rings sound and what is the mere plaster of a varnished tongue. 
An occasion indeed it is for which I may well venture to ask a 
hundred voices, that I may bring out in clear utterance how 
thoroughly I have lodged you in the very comers of my breast, 
and unfold in words all the unspeakable feelings which lie en- 
twined deep down among my heart-strings. 

When first the guardianship of the purple ceased to awe me. 



-ao. pagina. Virg. E. 6. la. 

dare pondus fumo, from Hor. i 
Ep. 19. 42 *nugis addere pondus.' 

dare .. idonea, &om Hor. i Ep. 16. 
1 2 * Fons . . rivo dare nomen idoneus/ 
both quoted by Casaubon. 

ai. secreti, opp. to *ad populum.' 
hortante Camena seems to imply, 
' I am inspired, as truly as any poet — as 
Homer himself when he sang of the ships 
and asked for a hundred tongues — ^and 
■the spirit within me bids me to open my 
heart to you, and tell of our friendship.' 

32. excutienda. i. 49. 

23. * Te meae partem animae ' Hor. a 
Od. 17« 5* 'animae dimidium meae* id. 
1 Od. 3, 8. 

dulcis amice, Hor. I Ep. 7.ia. Jahn. 

34. iuvat, of an occupation, Virg. Aen. 
9. 613-615, where * Comportare iuvat 
praedas et vivere rapto/ is opp. to ' iuvat 
indulgere choreis.' 

pulsa. 3. ai note. 
dinoscere cautus, like 'cautum 
adsumere ' Hor. i S. 6. 51. 

dinoscere.. quid.. crepetvt. . tec- 
toriass*dinoscere quid crepet a tectoriis.' 
* Pauci dignoscere possunt Vera bona atque 
iiiis muhum diversa ' Juv. lo a foli. * Tec- 
torium ' or * opus tectorium/ plaster or 
stucco for walls, so that the metaphor is 
£rom striking a wall to see whether it is 
«olid stone or not. 

25. pictae tectoria linguae is appa- 
rently to be resolved into 'quod tegit 
pictam linguam,' as a thing covered with 



'tectorium' might be calied *pictus,' 
though we should rather have expected 
the thing varnished to be the mind, and 
the tongue the vamisher. Casaubon 
quotes Auson. Id. 16. la * Sit solidum 
quodcunque subest, nec inania subter In- 
dicet admotus digitis pellentibus ictus.' 

26. hic is the reading of many MSS., 
including the oldest, and may very well 
be explained * in hac re.' Compare 
Virg. G. 2. 45 foll. ' Non bic te carmine 
ficto Atque per ambages et louga exorsa 
tenebo.' * His,* the other reading (Heinr., 
Jahn), equivalent to *ad haec,' seems 
scarcely so natural. 

centenas, for *centum,* like * sep- 

tenas temperat unda vias' Prop. 4. aa. 16. 

37. sinuoso; thebreast is supposedto 

contain many * sinus ' or recesses. Jahn 

compares *recessus mentis * a. 73. 

fixi expresses depth and permanence. 
We should have expected 'fixerim,' but 
the independent and dependent questions 
are confused, as in 3. 67 foll. 

aS. voce, negligently repeated after 
• voces.' 

traham; 'imoque trabens de pectore 
vocem' Virg. Aen. i. 371. 

pura, opp. to * pictae linguae' Lubin. 

resignent suggests a different meta- 
phor, from the tablets of the mind. 

2g. non enarrabile, by a common 
human voice. 

fibra. l. 47. 
30-51. *Whcn first freed from boyish 
restraints, and exposed to the temptations 



88 



PERSn 



bullaque succinctis Laribus donata pependit; 
cum blandi comites totaque inpune Subura 
permisit sparsisse oculos iam candidus umbo^ 
cumque iter ambiguum est et vitae nescius error 
deducit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes, 
me tibi supposui: teneros tu susdpis annos 
Socratico, Cornute, sinu; tum fellere sollers 
adposita intortos extendit regula mores, 
et premitur ratione animus vincique laborat 



35 



33* vfnbfx). 



36. sepostd. 



of yoatfa, I placed mjrself under yoor care. 
You became my goide, philosopher, and 
friend. Happily our days flowed on 
together — ^the moming spent in work, the 
evening in social pleasure. The same star 
must luve presided over the birth of both : 
it were sin to doubt it.' 

30. pavido, not *timid on entering 
into life * (Lubin), nor ' fearful, and there- 
•fore requiring protection' (Casaubon, 
Jahn), but *trembling under those who 
watched over me/ * quod sub metii paeda- 
gogorum praeteztati sunt,* as the SchoHast 
says — whence the contrast of *blandi 
comites * v. 32. Compare Ter. Andr. i. i. 
37 *Dum xietas, metus, magister, prohi- 
bebant.' 

purpura, of the *praetezta.' *Per 
hoc inane purpurae decus precor' Hor. 
Epod. 5. 7, * Quos ardens purpura vestit ' 
Juv. II. 155. Boys had regular *cus- 
todes' (Hor. A. P. 161): but the *prae- 
texta ' itself is called * custos/ as the s^rm- 
bol of sanctity. Casaubon quotes Quint. 
Decl. 340 *Sacrum praetextarum, quo 
sacerdotes velantur, quo magistratus, quo 
infirmitatem pueritiae sacram facimus ac 
venerabilem :' the Delph. ed. refers to 
Pliny 9. 60. 36 * Fasces huic securesque 
Roroanae viam faciunt: idemque pro 
maiestate pueritiae est.' (Compare also 
for the general sentiment Juv. 14. 44 foll.) 
In the same way Propertius says to Cyn- 
thia 3. 9. 35 *Ipse tuus semper tibi sit 
custodta lectus,' with reference to thc 
actual *custodes' appointed for courtezans. 
For the custom of exchanging the * prae- 
texta ' for the * toga,' as well as for that 
of hanging up the * bulla,' mentioned in 
the next line, see Dict. Antiqq. Konig 



refers to CatuH. 68. 15 foU. 'Tempore quo 
primum yestis mihi tradita pura est, lu- 
cundum cum aetas florida ver ageret, 
Multa satis lusi: non est Dea nescia 
nostri, Quae dulcem curis miscet amari- 
tiem,' a gracefiil passage, which Persius 
may have had in his mind. 

31. Compare 2. 70 note. Konig com- 
pares Prop. 4. i. 131 foll. * Moxubi buila 
rudi demissa est aurea collo, Matris et 
ante deos Ubera sumta toga.' 

succinctis, 'quia Qabino habitu 
cincti dii Penates formabantur, obvoluti 
toga supra humerum sinistrum, dextro 
nudo ' Scholiast. Jahn compares Ov. F. 
2. 632 * Nutriat incinctos missa pateUa 
Ures.' 

32. blandi, (*fuerunt'). 
comites. 3. i note,here = *aequales,' 
Subura, the focus of all business in 

Rome, Juv. 3. 5, where it is contrasted 
with a rocky island, ll. 51 *ferventi Su- 
bura,' and elsewhere. 

33. permisit may be illustrated by 
the epithet * libera ' given to the * toga.' 
Prop. cited on v. 31, Ov. F. 3. 771 foU. 
The Delph. ed. compares Ter. Andr. l. i. 
24 * Nam is postquam excessit ex ephebis, 
Sosia, Liberius vivendi fiiit potestas.' 

sparsisse oculos. Jahn compves 
Val. FI. 5. 247 *tua nunc terris, tua h- 
mina toto Sparge mari.' *To cast my 
glances ever^rwhere.* Compare the pa^ 
sage from Catullus cited on v. 30. 

iam candidus ezpresses the same 
as * Cum primum * v. 30. The toga was 
yet new and clean, and the sense of free- 
dom still fresh. 

umbo, the gathering of the fo!ds of 
the * toga.' See Dict. Antiqq. 



SAT.V. 



89 



and the boss of boyhood was hung up as an offering to the quaint 
old household gods, when my companions made themselves plea- 
sant, and the yet unsullied shield of my gown left me free to cast 
my eyes at will over the whole Subura — just when the way of 
life begins to be uncertain, and the bewildered mind finds that its 
ignorant ramblings have brought it to a point where roads branch 
off — then it was that I made myself your adopted child. You at 
once received the young foundling into the bosom of a second 
Socrates ; and soon your rule, with artful surprise, straightens the 
moral twists that it detects, and my spirit becomes moulded by 
reason, and struggles to be subdued, and assumes plastic features 



34« 3. 65 note. vitae nescius error 
answers to ' renim inscitia ' Hor. i £p. 3. 
33, * ignorance of life or of the world.* 

error is here the act of wandering. 
Compare Lucr. a. 10 ' Errare, atque viaro 
palantes quaerere vitae ' and Hor. 3. S. 3. 
48 sqq. * Velat silvis, ubi passim Palantes 
error certo de tramite pellit, Ille sini- 
strorsum, hic dextrorsum abit : unus utri- 
usque Errcr^ sed variis illudit partibus.' 

35. deducit, Jahn (1843), from the 
best MSS. for * diducit/ which the other 
editors, and Jahn in his text of 1868, 
prefer. It seems doubtful whether any 
appropriate meaning could be extracted 
from 'diducit in compita/ as 'compita' 
signifies not the crossways, but the junc- 
tion or point of crossing. ' Deducit * will 
have its ordinary sense of leading from 
one place to another, viz. from the stiaight 
path to the point where the roads begin to 
diverge, according to the image explained 
on 3. 56. Emphasis is thus thrown on 
' vitae nescins error/ the guidance to which 
they have to trust is that of ignorance 
and inexperience, so that they do not 
know which way to ^jm. 

36. supponere is used of suppositi- 
tious children, and of eggs placed under a 
hen, the common notion being that of 
introducing a person or thing into a place 
ready for it, but not belonging to it. 
Such seems to be its force here, though it 
would perhaps be too much to suppose, 
with Jahn, that the metaphor is directly 
taken from children. It seems-, however, 
to have suggested * suscipis,' which is the 
technical term for taking up and rearing a 
child. ' Haec ad te die natali meo scripsi, 
quo utinam susceptus non essem' Cic. Att. 
II. 9. 'Tollere,* which is a synonyme of 
'suscipere,' is used of supposititious chil- 
dren Quint. 3. 6. 97. 



teneros .. annos is not equivalent 
to ' me tenera aetate,' as the words are 
not used literally of actual infancy, but 
metaphorically of the infancy of judgment 
which belongs to youth. 

37. Socratico involves the notion not 
only of wisdom, but, as Jahn remarks, of 
the tender affection with which Socrates 
watched over youth. 

fallere sollers is explained by 
Jahn, *quae sollertiam adhibet, ubi de 
fallendo agitur — quae non fallit,' evidently 
an impossible rendering. The words can 
only mean * skilfiil to deceive,' so that we 
must understand them either of the gradual 
art with which Cornutus led his pupil to 
virtue (Casaubon), or, as 'Socratico' 
would suggest, of the cf/ktn^Cia which sur- 
prises error into a confession that it is 
opposed to tnith Tcompare 3. 52, 'curvos 
deprendere mores ) by piacing the two 
suddenly in juxtaposition — a view which 
would perhaps agree better with the lan- 
guage of the next line. There seems no 
affinity between the sense of 'fallere' 
here, and that of 'fallit regula' 4. la, 
though the expressions are similar. 

38. 3. 52., 4. 12, notes. intortus, 
apparently stronger than * pravus.* 

ostendit is read by some MSS., but 
* extendit ' is better, as showing that the 
same process convinced the pupil of his 
faults'and led him to correct them. 

39. premitur. Jahn well compares 
Virg. Aen. 6. 80 * fingitque premendo,' so 
that the word prepares us for the image 
of moulding in the next line. 

vinci laborat, like 'obliquo lahorat 
Lympha fugax trepidare rivo ' Hor. 1 Od. 
3. 12, where a prose writer would have 
said 'vinci cogitur,' though 'laborat' is 
doubtless meant to show tbat the pupir» 
mind co-operated with the teacher. 



90 



PERSII 



artificemque tuo ducit sub pollice vultum. 
tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles, 
et tecum primas epulis deceipere noctes: 
unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo, 
atque verecunda laxamus seria mensa. 
non equidem hoc dubites, ambonim fbedere certo 
consentire dies et ab uno sidere duci 
nostra vel aequali suspendit tempora Libra 
Parca tenax veri, seu nata fidelibus hora 
dividit in Geminos concordia fata duorum, 
Satumumque gravem nostro love frangimus una : 
nescio quid, certe est, quod me tibi temperat astrum. 
Mille hominum species et rerum discolor usus; 



4« 



45 



S? 



41. Umguos, 



44. ueneundia. 



49* wgeminos. 



40. A metaphor from wax or clay. 
artificem, passive. *Qaatuor artifiees 
vivida signa, boves * Prop. 3. 33. 8, • arti- 
ficemque regat' Ov. A. A. 3. 556, of a 
horse broken in. 

ducit. . vuitum, like * saxa. . dueere 
formam/ Ov. M. i. 402, which Jaho com- 
pares, the clay or waz bcing said to spread 
the form, just as the workman is said to 
spread the day, *Ut teneros mores ceu 
poUice dueat, Ut si quis cera vultum facit ' 
Juv. 7. 237, probably a copy from this 
passage. Compare also Virg. Aen. 6. 848 
' vivos dueent de marmore vultus/ Hor. 2 
Sp. I. 340 * dueeret aera Fortis Alexandri 
vultum simulantia/ where the notion is 
substantially the same. With the whole 
line Casaubon compares Stat. Achill. i. 
333 * Qualiter artificis victurae poUice 
cerae Accipiunt formas, ignemque manum- 
que sequuntur.' 

41. From Virg. E. 9. 51 *saepe ego 
longos Cantando puerum tnenuni me con- 
dere soles* as tbat is from Anth. Pal. 7. 80 
^cAiOP >^i<rxv learMaaiiwi 'consumere 
horas/ * tempus/ etc, is sufficiently common. 

43. epulis, either the dat. or the in- 
strumental abl. * Prima nox/ the begin- 
ning of the night, with a reference to 
* decerpere primitias.' * Dum primae de- 
cus aifectat decerpere pugnae ' Sil. 4. 138. 
decerpere, *to pluck off* stronger 
than * carpere/ Hke * partem solido demere 



de die ' Hor. i Od. i. 30. 

43. Casaubon compares Virg. G. 4. 
184 'Omnibus una quies operum, labor 
omnibus unus.' Jahn supplies ' unam ' for 
'requian/ from *unum opus;' but perhaps 
it is better to make * noum ' a predicate, 
and explain the line * disponimns opus, ita 
ut unum slt, et requiem ita ut pariter 
habeatur.' * Disponere diem ' is a phrase. 
Snct. Tib. Ii, 'Tac. Germ. 30, and Pliny 
£p. 4. 33, has ' disponere otium.' 

44. verecundas=*modica.' 
laxamus seria, like Maxabant cu- 

ras,' Virg. Aen. 9. 335, in which sense 
' rdaxare ' is more common. * Seria ' 
Hor. 3 S. 3. 135 'Explicuit vino contractae 
seria frontis.' 

mensa, probably instrum. abl., like 
* somno ' in Virg. 1. c. 

45. equidem. i. iio,note. *Iwould 
not have you doubt.' 

non. . dubites. i. 5, note; 'foedere 
certo' Virg. Acn. i. 62, ='Iege certa.* 
' Has leges aetemaque foedera certis Impo- 
suit Natura locis' Virg. G. l. 60. Jahn 
compares Manil. 3. 475 (speaking of 
tbe stars), 'lunxit amicitias horum sub 
fbedere certo^ 

46. consentire. ' Utrumqne nostrum 
incredibili modo Consentit astrum,' Hor. 2 
Od. 17. 31, from whom Persius has imi- 
tated the whc^e passage. 

ab uno sidere duci, apparentlyn 



SAT. V. 



9i 



under your hand. Aye, I mind well how I used to wear away 
long summer suns with you, and with you pluck the early bloom 
of the night for feasting. We twain have one work and one set 
time for rest, and the enjoyment of a moderate table unbends our 
gravity. No, I would not have you doubt that there is a fixed laW 
that brings our lives into accord, and one star that guides them, 
Whether it be in the equal balance that truthful Destiny hangs our 
da)^, or whether the birth-hour sacred to faithful friends shares 
our united fates between the heavenly Twins, and we break the 
shock of Satum together by the common shield of Jupiter, some 
star, I am assured, there is which fuses me with you. 

Men are of a thousand kinds, and the practice of life wears the 



*cepisse originem ab uno sidere.' Both 
Horace and Persins are talking at random, 
as is evident from the fact that neither 
professes to know his own horoscope. 
Astrology, as Jahn reniarks, was in great 
yogue in Persius' time, an impulse having 
becn given to the study by Tiberius. 
Compare thc well-known passage of Taci- 
tus, H. I. 33 * mathematicis .. genus 
hominum potentibus infidum, sperantibus 
foUax, quod in civitate nostra et vetabitur 
semper et retinebitur.* 

47. * Seu Libra seu me Scorpios aspicit * 
Hor. 2 Od. 17. 17. 

48. 'Parca non mendax' Hor. 2 Od. 
16. 39. 

tenax veri, perhaps imitated from 
Virg. Aen. 4. 188 (of Fame) • Tam fieti 
pravique tenax quam nuntia veri.* Fate 
is represented with scales in her hands 
(Mus. Capit. 4. t. 39), and also as mark- 
ing the horoscope on the celestial globe 
(R. Rochette, Mon. in6d. t. 77, a), Jahn. 
See Jahn, Archaologische Beitrage, p. 1 70. 
Wc must remember, too, the Stoic doc- 
trinc cf fatc and unchangeable laws. 

nata fidelibus, *ordained for faith- 
fiil friends.' The hour of birth is said to 
bc bom itself, as in Aesch. Ag. 107 £1;^ 
^wro9 al^; Soph. Oed. R. 1083 avyy^' 

49. dividit in Geminos, like *divi- 
dere nummos in viros.' Casaubon com- 
pares Manil. 2. 628 ' Magnos erit Gevums 
amor et concordia duplex.' 

50. * Te Jovis impio TuteJa Satumo 
refulgens Eripuit' Hor. 2 Od. 17. 22 foll. 
ThcDcIph. ed. compareis Prop. 5.1.83 foll. 
' Fcliccsque lavis stellas, Martisque rapacis, 
Et grave Satumi sidus in omnc caput.' 

nostro, including the notion of fa- 



vourable. 

frangimus. Casaubon compares 
Stat. Silv. I. 3. 7 *frangunt sic improba 
solem Frigora.* 

51. nescio quid is the reading of k 
considerable number of MSS., including 
the oldest, and is supported by Virg. E. 
8. 107, whcre thc samc words occur : and 
tdis seems more idiomatic and less clumsy 
than the common reading and pointing, 
* Nescio quod, certe est quod/ etc. Pet- 
sius says, *Whether it be Libra, or Ge- 
mini, or Jove, at anyrate I know (*certe*) 
that there is some star (* nescio quid *). 

temperat is froro Hor. 3 Ep. %, 
187 * Scit Qcnius, natalc comes qui /m- 
percU astrum* though the sense here is 
changed, the star being said ' tcmperare,'' 
not * temperarl.* 

me tibi tempcrat is a strange con^ 
struction, illustrated by none of the cora- 
mcntators. 'Tempero* seems here to 
foUow the analogy of * misceo,' which is 
used with a dat. whcre the mingling of 
persons is spoken of. *Miscere* and *tem>« 
perare,* as Freund shows, are sometimes 
used together, though they are contrasted 
Cic. Rep. 2. 23 * Haec ita miscta fuerunt, 
ut temperata nuilo fiierint modo,' as * tem- 
perare' means not only to mix, but to 
mix in due proportion, * which blends mc 
with thce.* 

52-61. The mcntion of their unani- 
mity leads Persius to think of the variety 
of pursuits in the world. * Men*s pursuits 
arc innumerable — cach has his own — one 
is a merchant — one a bon-vivant — one an 
athlete — onc a gambler — onc a dcbauchec 
— but disease and decay bring rcmorse 
with thcm.* 

52. Thc Scholiast compares Hor. 2 S. i. 



92 



PERSII 



velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno. 
mercibus hic Italis mutat sub sole recenti 
rugosum piper et pallentis grana cumini, 
hic satur inriguo mavult turgescere somno^ 
hic campo indulget, hunc alea decoquit, ille 
in Venerem putris; sed cum lapidosa cheragra 
fregerit articulos, veteris ramalia fegi, 
tunc crassos transisse dies lucemque palustrem 
et sibi iam seri vitam ingemuere relictam. 
tit te noctumis iuvat inpallescere chartis; 
cultor enim iuvenum puigatas inseris aures 



55 



60 



57. fa* . . indtdgtmt, dequoquU, 



58. cbiragra. 



37 ' Quot capitam vivuot, totidem stuiUo- 
nim Millia.* 

52. usus rerum, *thie practice of life/ 
like ' usum ritae * ▼. 94. 

discolor may either be 'of many 
complexions,' or ' of a different com- 
plexion,' according as we take * usus * to 
refer to the whole of mankind or to each 
man. If the latter, compare Hor. i £p. 
18. 3 'Ut matrona meretrid dispar erit 
atque Discolor' 

55. yelle suum. I. 9. 

voto vivitur. 2. 7; 'trabitsuaquem- 
que voluptas ' Virg. K. a. 65, Schol. 

54. Imitated fiom Hor. i S. 4. 39 *Hic 
mutat merces surgente a sole ad eum quo 
Vespertina tepet regio,' Scholiast. 

mercibus .. mutat.. piper, a va- 
riety for * merces mutat pipere,' as in Hor. 
3 S. 7. 109 * uvam Furtiva mutat strigili,' 
and elsewhere. 

sole recenti, of the East, like *soU 
novo terras inrorat Eous,' of the sunrise, 
Virg. G. I. 388. 

55. There is a force in rugosum piper, 
the shriveiling being the effect of the sun, 
which distinguishes it from the Italian 
pepper, as Jahn remarks. The Delph. ed. 
quotes Pliny la. 7. I4 'Hae, priusquam 
dehiscant decerptae tostaeque sole, faciunt 
quod vocatur piper longum : paullatim 
vero dehiscentes maturitate, ostendunt 
candidum piper, quod deinde tostum soli- 
bas colore rugisque mutatur.' Pepper, as 
a specimen of merchandize, is mentioned 
again v. 136, Juv. 14. 293. 

pallentis . cumini^ an imitation of 



Horace's ' exsangue cuminum ' (i £p. 19. 
18), pale, because produciog paleness, like 

* pallidam Pirenen ' Prol. 4. * Cumin ' 
was a favourite condiment, Pliny 19. 8. 
47 (Jahn). 

56. satur is emphatic, as both the 
pleasure and tbe fatness would arise as 
much from the full meal as from the 

* siesta.' 

inriguo, active, as in Virg. G. 4. 
31, with reference to the poetical expres- 
sions, * somnus per membra quietem Inri- 
get* Lucr. 4. 907, 'fessos sopor inrigai 
artus* Virg. Aen. 3. 511, compare also 
Aen. 5. 854 foll. 

57. For the sports of the * campus ' see 
Hor. I Od. 8. 4, I S. 6. 131, A. P. 162, 

379 ^^' 

decoquere was used intransitively, 

by an obvious ellipse, of men running 

through their means. ' Tenesne memoria, 

praetextatum te decoxisse' Cic. 2 Phil. 18. 

Here tbe man is made the object, and the 

means of his ruin the subject of the verb. 

Hor. I £p. 18. 31, joins ' damnosa Venus' 

with 'praeceps alea.' Juvenal dwells on 

the increase of gaming, l. 88 foll. 

58. cheragra is the spelling of the 
oldest MSS., and seems to be required by 
the metre : see Bentley and Orelli on Hor. 
3 S. 7. 15. The epithet 'lapidosa,' com- 
bined with * fregerit . . ramalia,' suggests 
that the metapbor may perhaps be from 
a hail-storm. Compare * confudit articu- 
los,' Hor. 1. c, with l £p. 8. 4 'quia grando 
Contuderit vites.' 

59. fregerit articulos; 'postquam 



SAT. V. 



93 



most different colours. Each has his own desire, and their daily 
prayers are not the same. One exchanges Italian wares under an 
Eastem sky for shrivelled pepper and seeds of cadaverous cumin; 
another prefers bloating himself with the balmy sleep that follows 
a full meal ; one gives in to outdoor games ; another lets gambling 
run through his means ; but when the hailstones of gout have 
broken their finger-joints, like so many decayed boughs of an old 
beech, then they complain that their days have been passed in 
grossness and their sunshine choked by fogs, and heave a sigh 
too late over the life that is left behind them. 

But your passion is to lose your colour in nightly study; you- 
are the moral husbandman of the young, preparing the soil of their 



iUi iusta cheragra CotUudit articulos* Hor. 
1 S. 7. 15 foU. of a man who went on 
gambling in spite of the gout. 

veteris ramalia fagi, is a pic- 
turesque paraphrase of Horace's epithet 

* nodosus.' The expression is strengthened 
by the omission of the partide of com- 
parison, changing it in Aristotle's language 
(^Rhet. 3. 4) from an cIkc&v to a fi(Ta<f>opa. 

• Veteres, iam fracta cacumina, fagos * 
Virg. £. 9. 9. Possibly, however, Heinr. 
tnay be right in connecting * fregerit ' 
closely with 'ramalia/ like the Greek 
^bdaic€LV rivcL aotpov, * has battered them 
into dead branches/ a usage which has 
some affinity to that of the cogn. acc. It 
may be worth noticing that the oldest 
MS. reads * fccerit.* 

60. Jahn compares TibuII. i. 4. 35 
'Vidi ego iam iuvenem, premeret cum 
serior aetas, Maerentem stultos praeter- 
iisse dies.* Konig compares Cic. pro Sest. 
9 *emersum subito e diutumh tenebris 
lustrorum ac stuprorum. . qui non modo 
tempestatem impendentem intueri temu- 
lentus, sed ne lucem quidem insolitam 
aspicere posset?' Not uniike is Virg. Aen. 
6. 733 * Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent 
gaudentque, neque auras Dispiciunt, clau- 
sae tenebris et carcere caeco.' The image 
of life in darkness is frequently found in 
Lucretius, 'Qualibus in tenebris vitae 
quantisque periclis Degitur hoc aevi, 
quodcunque estl' 2. 15: compare also 
3. 77 (* Ipsi se in tenebris volvi caeno- 
que queruntur/ which Persius may have 
imitated), 5. ii^ 170. The conception 
here is of life passed in a Boeotian atmo- 
sphere, of thick fogs and pestilential va- 
pours, which the sun never pierces — prob- 
ably with especial referenco to the plea- 



sures of senfe, of which Persius has just 
been speaking. So the 'vapour, heavy, 
hueless, formless, cold/ in Tennyson's 
• Vision of Sin.* 

61. sibi with ingemuere. 
vitam.. relictam means no more 

than their past life (' vitam anteactam ' 
Casaubon). So * iterare cursus Cogor re- 
lictos* Hor. I Od. 34. 4, 5, which has 
been similarly mistaken by the commen- 
tators. The acc. as in Virg. E. 5. 37 
' ingemuisse leones Interitum.' 

62-73. * Your end is nobler : you givc 
your nights to phiIosophy,'that you may 
train youth. Tbat is the true stay when 
old age comes. Yet men go on putting 
oS the work of studying virtue to a 
morrow that never arrives.' 

62. nocturnis. 1.90. 

iuvatj see the passage quoted on 
V. 34. 

inpallescere. I. 26. 

63. cultor introduces the metaphor 
which is carried on in ' purgatas/ * iuseris/ 
and ' fruge.' 

purgatas .. aures, *cleared of 
weeds/ a conmion word *in re rustica/ 
is from Hor. i Ep. i. 5, where however 
the reference is to ordinary cleansing, as 
V. 86 ' aurem lotus.' Compare Lucr. 5. 
44 *At nisi purgatum est pectus, quae 
proelia nobis Atque pericula tum'st ingratis 
insinuandum ?' where the metaphor is 
from clearing a conntry of wild beasts, 
Kard T€ tpia wdvTa icaBaifwv Soph. Trach. 

lOII. 

inserere aures fruge, a variety 
for ' inserere auribus fruges.' Jahn com- 
pares Cic. de Univ. 12 'Cum autem ani- 
mis corpora cum necessitate insevisset.' 
For the general expression the Delph. ed. 



94 



PERSII 



fruge Cleanthea. petite hinc puerique senesque 
finem animo certum miserisque viatica canis! 65 

*Cras hoc fieL' Idem cras fiet. ^Quid? quasi magnum 
nempe diem donas?' Sed cum lux altera venit, 
iam cras hestemum consumpsimus : ecce aJiud cras 
egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra. 
nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno 70 

vertentem sese frustra sectabere cantum, 
cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo. 
Libertate opus est: non hac, ut quisque Velina 



64. hnfimnqtis. 



66. cras/hi. 



^o, fnptu. 



73. qmgue. 



quotcf Hor. i Ep. i 39 foU. * Nemo adco 
fints ett ut non mUt&eers possit, Si modo 
ndiuroM patientem oommodet aurem.' 

64. fruge, generally of grtin for cat« 
ing — here of grain for teed. 'Nos^Wi^m 
•crimus, nos arbores ' Cic. N. D. 3. 00. 
The metaphorical nsc of thc word is not 
tincommon: 'Gentutiae seniorum agitant 
expertiayVv^ ' Hor. A. P. 341. 

Cleanthes, Dict. Biog., used as a 
representative of the Stoics, as in Juy. a. 7, 
*Aut inbet archetjrpos pluteum senrare 
Cleanthas,' being the preceptor of Chry- 
sippus. 

petite. • finem animo certum is 
&om Hor. i £p. 2. 56 ' certum Toto pete 
finem/ 'petere' signifying in both passages 
not 'to aim at,' bnt 'to procure,' and 
' animo ' being dat. like *70to,' with which 
it is hcre Tirtually synonymous, as in 
the exprcssions ' est animui,' * fert ani- 
mus.' 

puerique senesque, probably a 
recoUection of Hor. i £p. i. a6 ' Aeque 
neglectum pueris sembusjue nocebit,' 
which the Delph. ed. compares. 

65. finem ; coippare 3. 60. 
miseris, for which Hcinr. substi- 

tutes Markland'8 conj. 'scris,' is sufficiently 
appropriate, as it is for the miseries of old 
age that the provtsion of philosophy is re- 
quired, just as it is in decay that the evil 
of a bad Ufe is felt, ▼. 58 foil. 

viatica, alludingto a saying of Bias, 
k<p6diov dird v€&rifTos cts y^fns dyaXd/<- 
fliayt ffO(fiiayt Diog. L. i. 5. 88, attributed 
tQ Aristotle, cJ. 3. ii. ai, in another form, 



Casaubon and Jahn. 

canis, fTeqnently used snbstanttvdy 
and coupled widi an epithet, eqiecially by 
Ovid. Freund s. v. 

66. A reply from one of those ad- 
dressed. ' 1 wiU do it to-morrow.' With 
'hoc fict' compare 'hoc age.' Perstus 
answers, ' You wiU do to-morrow just what 
yon do to-day.' Jahn qnotes Ov. Rcm. 
Am. 104 ' cras quoque fiet idem,' said of a 
wound, ' It wiU be the same to^^morrow,' 
where * fiet ' leenu to be used for ' crit,' 
ezpressing perhaps that there wiU be a 
change which is no change. For the 
general sentiment the Del|^ ed. compares 
Mart. 5. 58. 

quasi magni|m. Casaubon com- 
pares Hor. i S. 4. 9 foU. ' saepe ducentos, 
Ui magnum, versus dictabaL' 

67. 'What? do you mean to say 
('nempe') that you caU a day a great 
prcsent?' 'Nempe' impUes 'Is this what 
you mean when you say Idem eras fiet f ' 
' Do you mean to higgle about a day?' 
This seems better than with Heinr. to 
punctuate 'quasi roagnum nempe, diem 
donas ? ' or with Jahn to suppose ' Quid. . 
donas ' to stand for two sentences. ' Quid, 
quasi magnum sit, mihi donas? nempe 
mcm donas.' 

cum. . venit ezpresses time coincident 
with, if not subsequent to, that of the 
principal clause — the sense being, ' The 
very coming of thc to-morrow you sipeak 
of now, involves the loss of the to-morrow 
you spoke of yesterday, i. e. of to-day.' 



SAT. V. 



95 



ears and sowing it with Cleanthes' corn. Yes I it is thence that all, 
j^pung and old alike, should get a definite aim for their desires» 
and a provision for the sorrows of old age. * So I will, to-raorrow.* 
To-morrow will tell the same tale as to-day. * What ? do you 
mean to call a day a great present to make a man?' Aye, but 
when next day comes, we have spent what was to-morrow yester- 
day already ; and there is always a fresh to-morrow baling out 
these years of ours and keeping a little in advance of us. Near 
as the tire may be, revolving, in fact, under the same carriage- 
pole as you, you will never overtake it, for yours is the hind wheel, 
and yoiu* axle not the first but the second. 

The thing wanted is freedom — it is not ihis freedom which enables 



• 68. hesternum, in reference \o the 
present time of speaking, not to tbe time 
denoted by * consumsimus.' 

aliud craa, *a fresh to-morrow/ ever 
succeeding. 

69. egerit is explained by Jahn 'im- 
pulerit,* as i£ from * ago,* an error against 
which all the commentators, from the 
Scholiast downward, have taken care to 
guard, some mentioning it expressly. 
* Egero ' is used variously of empt^ring out 
eaith, carr^ring out goods, baling out 
water, etc, from which it is easily trans- 
fiprred to the constant consumption of 
time, as in Val. FI. 8. 453 * tota quereHs 
Egeritur luctuque dies,' quoted by Konig, 
i&. 5. 299 ' Nox Minyis egesta metu.' 

hos annos, which you have before 
you, and reckon on in advance. 

pauium erit ultra changes the 
metaphor. 

70. A metaphor instead of a simile, as 
in V. 59.. 

quamvis, etc, if you are behind it, 
it does not signify how near you may be 
— like our proverb, * a miss is as good as 
a mile.' 

71. cantum, the tire or rim of a 
wbeel, instead of * rotam,' as it would be 
the outside which a person behind would 
DaturaUy hope to touch. 

72. cum, instead of *si,' as giving 
more rhetorical force, and more completely 
identifying tbe person with the thing to 
which he. is compared. 

rota posterior curras, you run in 
tbe ebaracter of the hind wheel — your 
running is that of the hind wheel. 

in axe currere, like *in cardine 
verti.* 

73-90. * Men want ireedom — ^not civil 



freedom, a tbing that in these blinded 
times is conferred on aiiy one, no matter 
on whom. Take a miserable debased 
slave, enfranchise him, and he becomes 
a Roman at once, enjoys all the privi- 
leges, and is honoured with all the com- 
pliments. Well, he will reply, and am I 
not free — free to do as I please ? No, you 
are not. How so ? surely my enfranchise- 
ment gave every right that the law allows.' 
73. non hac qua, ut quisque, is the 
usual reading, but it appears to be sup- 
ported by a single MS. only, five others 
having * hac quam ut,' which comes to the 
same thing. Heinr. adopts the reading of 
several copies, ' hac qua ' or * quam quis- 
que,' understanding * quisque ' = * quicun- 
que.' The great majority of MSS. how- 
ever read 'non hac nt quisque,' which 
Casaubon and Jahn follow, the one sup- 
posing that the reiative can be omitted, 
and quoting Virg. Aen. i. 530 *£st locus, 
Hesperiam Graii cognomine dicunt;' the 
latter giving as his explanation ' ut (qua, 
quasi dixerit ita ut) scabiosum tesserula 
far possidet, quisque (quicunque) Publius 
emeruit Velina,' where surely * possideat ' 
would be required. A far simpler way 
is to make 'non hac' the beginning of 
an independent sentence. * It is not by 
tbis freedom that every fire-new citizen 
who gets his name enroUed in a tribe, is 
privileged to receive a pauper's allowance 
for hi^ ticket.' 

ut quisque. . emeruit- . possjdet, 
*he receives it upon serving — as surely 
as he has served,' a common construction, 
for instances of which see Freund s. v. * ut,' 
Madvig § 495. For the two ablatives, 
' hac ' and * tess^rula,' attached to the same 
predicate, see Madvig § 278 a. The 



96 



PERSII 



Publius emeruit, scabiosum tesserula far 
possideL heu steriles veri, quibus una Quiritem 
vertigo focit! hic Dama est non tresis agaso, 
vappa lippus et in tenui farragine mendax: 
verterit hunc dominus^ momento turbinis exit 
Marcus Dama* papae! Marco spondente recusas 
credere tu nummos? Marco sub iudice pailes? 
Marcus dixit: ita est; adsigna, Marce, tabellas. 
haec mera libertas ! hoc nobis pillea donant ! 
^An quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam 
cui licet, ut voluit? licet ut volo vivere: non sum 
liberior Bruto ?* ^ Mendose coUigis,*' inquit 



75 



80 



85 



74. Pvplhtt. 



76. datnma. 



79. damma. 



81. astgna. 



former is to be compsired with * facere ali- 
qnid Uge* the latter with * emere aliqnid 
frelio.* 

75. Velina, probably chosen becanse 
instanced by Hor. i £p. 6. 51 ' hic nrahum 
in Fabia vaiet, ille Velina.' 

74. Publius, * Quinte, puta, aut Puhli 
(gaudent praenomine moUes Auriculae'), 
Hor. 3 S. 5. 39, of a similar case. The 
Dbject of * emeruit ' is apparently inrolred 
in the scntence which follows : ' scabiosum 
tesserula far possidere,' after the analogy 
of 'mereri stipendia,' so that we may 
render it * has served.' ' Velina ' defining 
the service, as if it were the legion in 
which the soldier had served. * He has 
only to enter the serrice of the tribe in 
order to entitle himself to the allowance.' 
scabiosum, like *vilis tessera frn- 
menti' Juv. 7. 174. 

tesserula, a contemptuous dimi- 
nutive of * tessera,' the ticket which enti- 
tled the holder to a share in the ' fhimen- 
tatio,' or monthly distribution of com 
among the poorer citizens. See Dict. 
Ant., and Mayor's note on Juv. 7. 174. 
Julius Caesar limited the number of reci- 
pients (Suet. Caes. 41) : Augustus com- 
plained of the demoralizing tStct of the 
custom, which at one time he wished to 
abolish altogether (Aug. 41), and at- 
tempted to restrict the distribution to 
three times a year : but was deterred by 
the unpopularity of the step {ib, 40). On 



one occasion he resented this very practice 
of manumitting slaves, in order to entitle 
them to an eztraordinary bounty (*con- 
giarinm '), by refusing to admit the new 
claimants, and giving the rest less per head 
than he had promised. 

75. heu steriles veri, compare 2. 61, 
and the metaphor in v. 63 of this Satire. 

sterilis, with gen. like *virtutnm 
sterile saeculum ' Tac. H. I. 3 (Jahn), also 
found in PUny and VelL Paterc. 

Qniritem, 3. 106, rare in the sing. 
as the Scholiast remarks, * fonnd in poets 
and in some legal formnlae;' Mayor on 
Juv. 8. 47. 

76. vertigo, ezplained by *verterit," 
V. 78. The reference is to the *manu- 
missio per vindictam,' which made a slave 
a fuU citizen, the lictor touching him with 
the *vindicta,' the master tuming him 
round and * dismissing him from his hand,' 
with the words * Hunc hominem liberum 
esse volo.' 

facit. In prose we should have ez- 
pected *fiiciat,' as the sentence, thongh 
eaq>ressed in an independent form, is really 
meant *to give the reason of the address 
* Heu steriles veri.' Compare Virg. G. a. 
458 foU. *0 fortunatos nimium.. quibus 
ipsa.. Fundit humo facilem victum iustis- 
sima tellus.' 

hic Dama est, etc. It matters 
little whether we put a stop at * est ' or 
make * agaso ' the predicate. 



SAT. V. 



97 



every new recruit for citizenship enlisting in the Veline tribe to 
get a quota of spoiied corn for his ticket. What an unproductive 
soil for truth, where a single twirl makes a citizen of Rome ! 
Look at Dama here, a stable-slave for whom you would not give 
twopence, blear-eyed from low tippling, and ready to tell a lie 
about a slight feed of com ; suppose his master to give him a 
tum,— presto, by the mere act of twirling he is turned out Marcus 
Dama. , Prodigious ! What, Marcus surety, and you refuse to lend 
money? Marcus judge, and you feel uneasy? Marcus has given 
his word, it is so. Pray, Marcus, witness this document. This is 
freedom pure and simple ; this is what caps of hberty give us. 
* Why ? can you define a free man otherwise than a man who has 
the power of living as he has chosen ? I have the power of living 
as I choose ; am I not more of a freeman than Brutus, the founder 



Dama (Demetrius), used repeatedly 
by Horace as a slave^s name, i S. 6. 38, 
a S. 5. 18, loi., 7, 54. 

non tressis, od« d^io$ rpia>fi6Kov, 
Casaubon. Jahn compares Vatinius in 
Cic. £p. Fam. 5. 10 ' non semissis homo.' 

agaso, *a stable-boy.' *Si patinam 
pede lapsus frangat agaso * Hor. 2 S. 8. 72, 
of the waiter^at Nasidienus' table. 

77. It is difficult to decide between 
'Vappa et lippus/ the common reading, 
supported by about half the MSS., and 
VVappa lippus/ which Jahn prefers. 
' Vappa ' is twice coupled by Horace with 
'nebulo/ i S. 1.104., 2. la, and Mippus' 
may be explained as in i. 79., a. 7a, as a 
contemptuous term, probably implying 
disease brought on by sensuality : on the 
other hand, the stable-helper would be 
naturally enough described as * blear-eyed 
from tippling swipes/ as in Hor. i S. 5. 16 
'multa prolutus vappa nauta;' ^farrago 
appeiiatur id quod ex pluribus satis pabuli 
caussa datur iumentis' Festus, p. 91; 'in 
the matter of a slight feed of com/ with 
reference to 'agaso.' Freund unaccount- 
ably supposes * Sirrago ' here to have the 
sense of *a trifle.' 

78. verterit. . exit, compare v. 189, 
* Dixeris. . videt.' 

momento turbinis, like *horae 
momento' Hor. i S. i. 7. 

exit, as in Hor. A. P. aa, * turbinis 
answering to * rota.' 

79. Marcus, like *Publius,' v. 74. 
M. FVFIVS M. L. DAMA actually occurs 
an an inscription in Buonarotti (vetri p. 
136)» Jahn. 



!. » 



papae is understood by Jahn as an ex- 
pression of wonder that Dama continuet 
the same as he was — no more trusted as a 
citizen than he was as a slave : but this 
would destroy the whole spirit of the 
passage, which is clearly ironical. Persius 
throws up his hands with wonder at the 
transformation. *After this can anybody 
think of his antecedents — hesitate about 
lending money on his security — feel qualms 
when he is on the bench ? Impossible — ^he 
is a Roman — his word is good for any- 
thing — so is his signature.' 

80. palles, *of fear,' Hor. I Ep. 7. 7. 

81. dixit: ita est,acontrastto 'men- 
dax.' 

adsigna, 'put your seal to,' 'as a 
witness.' Compare Mart. 9. 88. 5 foll. 
(Konig). 

8a. 'Vult ltberta& dici mtra* Hor. i 
Ep. 18. 8. 

pillea. note on 3. 106. 

83. The humour is increased l^ making 
the man argue in a formal syllogism, and 
advance as his major premiss the definition 
of liberty given by the Stoics themselves, 
after the popular opinion quoted by Ari- 
stotle, Pol. 7 (6). a rd {§y c&« 0o6Kenii rir 
rovro ycLp rQt kKtvOtptoi ipyov ttvai <pa- 
ffiv. Comp. Cic. de Off. i. ao, Par. 5. 

I-34- 

84. voluit, perf. because the will pre- 

cedes the action. 

85. liberior Bruto, *more free than 
the hero of freedom himself.' 

Mendose colligis; 'colligere' is 
the technical term for logical inference, 
av\\oyl(€<r$cu. 



H 



98 



PERSII 



stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto 
<< haec reliqua accipio ; licet illud et ut volo tolle. 
* Vindicta postquam meus a praetore recessi, 
cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque voluntas, 
excepto si quid Masuri rubrica vetavit?' 
Disce, sed ira cadat naso rugosaque sanna, 
dum veteres avias tibi de pulmone revello. 
non praetoris erat stultis dare tenuia rerum 
officia atque usum rapidae permittere vitae: 
sambucam citius caloni aptaveris alto. 
stat contra ratio et secretam garrit in aurem, 
ne liceat facere id quod quis vitiabit agendo. 
publica lex hominum naturaque continet hoc £as. 



» 



90 



95 



97. mtiatat. 



98. pupUea, 



86. stoicus hic seems to be Persins' 
way of describing himself, like the com- 
mon ezpressioa 'hic homo/ di^p l^c, 
Hor. I S. 9. 47. 

aurem.. lotus, ▼. 63 note. 

mordaci. i. 107. 

aceto. Konig refers to Cels. 6. 7. a. 
3, to show that rinegar was used in cases 
of deafbess. 

87. haec reliqua, is the reading of 
the great majority of the MSS., opp. 
to * Hcet Ulud* Persius admits the major, 
but denies the minor. 

accipio, like * accipere condicionem/ 
•legem.* For * licet illud et ut toIo/ 
some MSS. have *licet ut volo vivere,' 
adopted by Orelli and Heinr., but it seems 
to be an«interpoIation from v. 84. Persius 
objects to ' licet ' and * volo ' as the two 
obnoxious words, denying both that the 
man has a will and that he is free to fol- 
low it. 

88. Vindicta, instrum. abl. For the 
process see note on v. 76. 

meus, *my own master,' or rather 
* my own property.* Konig compares Ter. 
Phorm.4. !• 31 'nam ego meorum solus 
sum meus.' 

89. *Iussit quod splendida bilis' Hor. 2 
S. 3. 141. 

90. The ezception proves that the 
man has no notion of any but civU free- 
dom, which is expressed as * Facultas eius 



qnod cuiqne &cere libet, nisi quod vi aut 
inre prohibetur' Inst. i. 3. l, Dig. i. 5. 
4, referred to by Jahn. For Masurius 
Sabinus, see Dict Biog. ' Ruhncam vocat 
minium, quo tituli legum annotabantur ' 
Schol. Hence in Dig. 43. i. 2 *sub 
rubrica' is used for ' snb titalo,' Mayor on 
Juv. 14. 192. 

vetavit for * vetuit,' found nowhere 
else except in a note of Servius on Virg. 
Aen. 3. 201. Jahn. 

91-323. *I will show you, if you will 
submit to be disabused patiently. The 
praetor cannot confer right of action on a 
fool. Reason, witnessed by nature and 
embodied in the unwritten law of hu- 
manity, treats ignorance as disability. It 
is so in all cases — a man who is ignorant 
of medictne may not practise — a man 
who knows nothing of naval matters may 
not command a ship. Can yon distinguish 
tmth from falsehood ? right from wrong ? 
are you contented and cheerful ? sparing 
or generous, as occasion requires? free 
from covetonsness ? Satisfy me on these 
points, and I will call yon free. Fail to 
substantiate yonr professions, and I retract 
the admission, and tell you that yon have 
no right of action wkatever — no power to 
take a single step without a blunder.' 

91. The nose shows anger by snarling, 
i. 109'. Casaubon quotes Theocr. i. 18 
Koi ol dtl Spi/ifia xo^^ "ffOTl fiivl /cdOfjrai, 



SAT. V. 



99 



of freedom ? ' A false inference, retof ts our Stoic friend, whose 
ear has been well rinsed with good sharp vinegar. I admit the 
rest, only strike out the words pcwer and choose. * Why, after the 
rod enabled me to leave the praetor's presence my own man, why 
should not I have power over whatever I have a mind for, except 
where the statutes of Masurius come in the way ? 

Attend, then, but drop that angry wrinkled snarl from your 
nostrils, while I pull your old grandmother out of the heart of you. 
It was not in the praetor's province to give fools command over 
the delicate proprieties of relative duty, or grant them the entry of 
the rapid race-course of life ; you will get a hulking camp-foUower 
to handle a duldmer first. No, reason steps in your way and 
whispers privately in your ear that no pne be allowed to do what 
he will spoil in the doing. It is a statute contained in the general 
code of humanity and nature, that ignorance and imbecility operate 



Lucil. Fr. 20. 4 * Calpumi saeyam legem 
Pisoni* repreadi, Eduxique animam in 
primoribus naribus.' 

rugosa, as wrinkling up the nostrils. 

• Corruget nares ' Hor. i Ep. 5. 33. 

sanna. i. 6a. 

92. veteres avias ; as we should say, 
prejudices which you imbibed with your 
mother's milk. Compare 2. 31, where 
the grandmother is made to utter foolish 
wishes. 

pulmone, mentioned as the seat of 
pride (3. 27), as Casaubon thinks, more 
probably than as the seat of wrath, which 
is Jahn's view. 

93. tenuia (trisyll. as in Virg. G. i. 
397., 3. 131., 4. 38).. officia, not as 
distinguishing them from other broader 
duties, but expressing the nature of right 
doing, which is an art made up of innu- 
merable details, and requiring exact study. 

rerum, equivalent to * vitae.* 

94. usum . . . permittere vitae» 

• permittere ut aterentur vita.* 

rapidae appears to be a metaphor 
from a race-course, as in 3. 67, 8, the notion 
being that there is no power of stopping 
in the career of life, which consequently is 
no place for a man who cannot conduct 
himseif. 

95. sambuca; Dict. of Antiq. 
citius — • potius;* ' citius dixerim* 

Cic. 2 Phil.ii. 

*Calones militum servi dicti, qui 
ligneas clavas gerebant, quae Graeci xaXa 
vocant* Festus, p. 47 ; elsewhere of other 
slaves, Hor. I S. 6. 103, i Ep. 14. 42, here 

H 



in its original sense, as Persius would na- 
turally choose a soldier*s slave as the lowest 
specimen of degraded humanity. See 
note on 3. 77. 

alto, points the same way, compare 
' Pulfennius ingens' v. 190. 

aptare sambucam .. caloni, like 
'aptantur enses dexteris' Hor. Epod. 7. 2» 
to make him use it gracefully, as if it were 
his natural instrument. 

96. stat contra» * confronts you,' 

* stops your way.* *Stat eontra, dicitque 
tibi tua pagina, Fur es' Mart. i. 53 (54). 
1 3 , quoted by Jahn. * Stat contra, starique 
iubet ' Juv. 3. 390. 

'Ratio tua coepit vodferari' Lucr. 

The MSS. are divided between gar- 
rit and gannit. Jahn is perhaps right in 
preferring the former, as *garrire in aurem' 
occurs in Mart. i. 89 (90). i., 3. 28. a, 
etc. seemingly in the sense of whispering. 
With the general expression of the line, 
compare Hor. i Ep. i. 7 *Est mihi jjurga- 
tam crebro qui personet aurem,' of an in- 
ward monitor. 

97. liceat, with reference to 'licet,' 
V. 84. 

98. publica lex hominum, opp. to 

* Masuri rubrica' v. 90, as the Delph. ed. 
remarks. 

natura seems to be mentioned as 
the source of the law, which is conse- 
quently accepted and acknowledged every- 
where. The doctriue of a supreme law of 
Nature, the actual source and ideal standard 
of all particular laws, was chaxacteristic of 

2 



ICX> 



PERSII 



ut teneat vetitos inscitia debilis actus. 
diluis helleborum, certo conpescere puncto 
nescius examen? vetat hoc natura medendi. 
navem si poscat sibi peronatus arator, 
ludferi rudis, exclamet Melicerta perisse 
frontem de rebus. tibi rccto vivere talo 
ars dedit, et veri specimen dinoscere calles, 
ne qua subaerato mendosum tinniat auro? 
quaeque sequenda fbrent, quaeque evitanda vicissim, 
illa prius creta, mox haec carbone notasti? 
es modicus voti? presso lare? dulcis amicis? 
iam nunc astringas, iam nunc granaria laxes. 



lOO 



105 



IIO 



100. M^f^rum, 



106. sub aeraio. 



tfae StoicSy and lay at the bottom of the 
Roman jnristical notion of a ' ratio nato- 
ralis ' or * ius gentiam ' (Inst. a. i). 

98. hoc fas ; ' fas omns* i$ a common 
expression, Virg. Aen. 3. 55, etc. ; and 
' fas gentium/ ' patriae/ etc. occur in 
Tacitus (Ann. i. 42., 1. 10). 

99. teneat vetitos are connected by 
Casaubon, who ezplains them 'habeat 
pro vetitis.' Jahn says, *Teneat, ita ut 
necessario eam sequantur.* Perhaps it 
would be more natural to ezplain it in 
the sense of restraining. * That ignorance 
and incompetence should operate as a bar 
to forbidden actions/ — or, if we take 
inscitia debilis as equivalent to 'insciti 
et debiles/ * should check them/ as if it 
were 'teneat se ab agendis vetitis.' So 
Ascens. 'Contineat in se nec emittat 
actus yetitos/ and Nebriss. * Contineat se 
ab aliqua re agenda quam agere ratio, 
lez, et natura yetant.' 

The nse of actus in this sense seems 
chieily to belong to later Latin. Freund 
thinks there is only one instance of it in 
Cicero (Leg. i. ii), *Non solum in fectis 
sed etiam in praris actibus* (9\,pravita' 
tibus). 

100. This and the foUowing ezample 
are from Hor. a Ep. 1. 114 foll. *Nayem 
agere ignarus nayis timet: abrotonum 
aegro Non audet, nisi qui didicit, dare,' — 
sp^ddng of those who rush into poetry 
without preparation. 

diluis helleborum. Hdlebore 



seems to haye been sometimes taken 
pore» as in 4. 16 note, sometimes mized. 

certo, etc. The metaphor here is 
from a steel-^rard (*statera'), not as in 1. 6 
sq., from a balance ('trutina'). 

conpescere, * to check,' seems here 
to mean to bring to the perpendicular, 
so that the indez (*ezamen') may show 
that there is an equipoise. 

punctum is one of the points oa 
the graduated arm, along which the 
wdght is moyed. 

certo conpescere puncto, then, 
is to steady the indez by bringing the 
weight to the point required. Thus the 
whole will mean, as Lubin ezplains it, ' Do 
you attempt to compound medicines who 
do not understand the use of the sted- 
yard?' 

loi. natura medendi, 'the condi- 
tions of the heating art.' 

loa. nayem ..poscat, 'should askfor 
the conunand of a ship,' like ' yitem posce' 
Juy. 14. 193. 

peronatus. The 'pero' was a thick 
boot of raw hide, ' crudus pero' Virg. Aen. 
7. 690, * alto . . perone . . qui summoyet 
Euros Pelhbus inyersis' Juy. 14. 185, con- 
trasted with the light shoes which sailors 
wear on deck (Stocker). 

103. luciferi, mentioned as the chief 
of the stars. Casaubon remarks that in 
that case the countryman would be igno- 
rant eyen of his own trade, as he is bound 
to haye scme knowledge of the stars. 



SAT. V. 



lOI 



as an embargo on a forbidden action. What? compound helle- 
bore, when you don't know the right point at which to steady the 
index of the steel-yard ? The law of the healing art forbids you. 
So if a roughshod clodhopper, unacquainted with the pole-star, 
should ask for a ship, the gods of the sea would cry out that 
shamefacedness had vanished from nature. Tell me, has study 
given you the power of living correctly? are you well practised 
in testing the appearances of truth, and seeing that there is no false 
ring to show that the gold is coppered undemeath ? Have you 
discriminated what should be followed on the one hand and what 
avoided on the other, marking the former with chalk first, and then 
the latter with charcoal? Are your desires moderate, your house 
within compass, your temper to your friends pleasant? Can you 
shut up your granaries at one time, open them at another? and 



Virg. G. I. ao4 foll. 

exclamet, etc. From Hor. a Ep. 
I. 80 'clamant periisse pudorem Concti 
paene patres.* Casaubon quotes Theognis 
291 cddiiB /aIv t^p 6\ojK€v, dyaidtlrj dk 
KoL tfipit Hfi/effffaffa dtHrjv yijv irard itcuray 

Melicerta, as one of the patrons of 
sailors, Virg. G. i. 437. 

104. frontem, the seat of modesty, 
put for modesty itself, as in our word 

• frontless.' 

de rebus, 'from the world,' as in 

* Rerum pulcherrima Roma,' etc, — 'cadat 
an reeto stet fabula talo* Hor. 2 £p. i. 
1 76 ; apparently from Pind. Isthm. 6. 1 2 
6p$^ iaraaat M atpvp^, Jahn. Opp. to 
falling or stumbling. Not unlike is Juv. 
10. 5 * dextro pede concipis.' 

105. ars. So Cic. Tusc. 2. 4 says of 
the philosopher, 'In ratione vitae pec- 
cans . . in officio cuius magister esse vult 
labitur, artemque vitae professus, delin- 
quit in vita.* The word is emphatic hcre, 
as Persius means to deny that virtue comes 
except by training and study. 

specimen is restored by Jahn jfrom 
the majority of MSS., including the oldest, 
for ' speciem.' * specimen ' has here its ori- 
ginal sense of ' indicium,' as in Lucr. 4. 
209 foll. 'Hoc etiam in primis speeimen 
verum esse videtur, Quam celeri motu 
rerum simulacra ferantur.' 

106. subaerato, a translation of {fwS- 
XoXico*, Casaubon. Rather an awkward 
one, as * aeratus' would imply that the 
copper had been applied to the gold, not 
viee versa, 

mendosum tinniat, hke ' sonat 



vitium' 3. 21, 'solidum crepet* above, 
V. 25. The metaphor in this and the 
preceding line is not unlike Hor. i Ep. 7. 
23 * Nec tamen ignorat quid distent aera 
lupinis.' The nom. to *tinniat* would 
seem to be * verum.' 

107. vicissim, 'on the other hand.* 

108. prius .. mox. Whether there is 
any point in making the knowledge of 
virtue precede that of vice is not clear. 
Hor. I Ep. I. 41 gives the contrary pro- 
cess, * Virtus est vitium fiigere, et sapientia 
prima Stultitia caruisse.' 

creta .. carbone. 'Creta an car- 

bone notandi' Hor. 2 S. 3. 246, of dif- 

ferent classes of men. Compare note on 

, 2. I and 4. 13 ' nigrtm vitio praefigere 

theta.' 

109. modicus voti is found also in 
Sil. 5. 14. Jahn. Tacitus has 'modicum 
voluptatum' Ann. 2. 73, * modicus pecuniae' 
id. 3. 72. 

pressus, frequent as an epithet of 
style, opp. to ' diffiisus ' or ' abundans.' 
Here it seems to denote the avoiding of 
ostentatious or reckless expenditure, ap- 
plied to lar probably because one mode 
of extravagance is over-building. 

dulcis, like * dulees ignoscent .. 
amici' Hor. i S. 3. 139 (referred to by 
Madan), * indulgent,' — so that it answers 
to * ignoscis amicis?' Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 210, 
in a similar list of questions for self- 
examination. 

Iio. astringas, like 'astrictum limen' 
Ov. Am. 3. 1. 50, of a door shut. 

granaria, 6. 25, implying large 
stores, as in Hor. i S. i. 53 * Cur tua plus 
laudes cumeris granaria nostris?' 



103 



PERSII 



inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum, 

nec glutto sorbere salivam Mercurialem? 

• haec mea sunt, teneo * cum vere dixeris, esto 

liberque ac sapiens praetoribus ac love dextro, 

sin tu, cum fiieris nostrae paulo ante fiarinae, 115 

pelliculam veterem retines et fionte politus 

astutam vapido servas in pectore vulpem, 

quae dederam supra relego funemque reduco: 

nil tibi concessit ratio; digitum exere, peccas, 

et quid tam parvum est? sed nuUo ture litabis, 

haereat in stultis brevis ut semuncia recti. 

haec miscere nefas; nec, cum sis cetera fbssor, 

tris tantum ad numeros satyrum moveare Bathylli. 

III. ftanan tfatwn nt Tid. iia. gluio. 116. poUta, 

117. siAp§ctore, i3o. IttaherU, lai. semtuneia, 13$. saHri. 



I20 



iio. lazes, of opening. Virg. Aen. a. 
359 * laxai claustra Sinon.' Gr. xaXA». 

iii. *Ayanis, In ttvrus fixum cum se 
demittit ob assem' Hor. i £p. 16. 63 foU., 
a common joke in Rome for boys to 
fasten a piece of money to a stone in the 
street, that they might laugh at any one 
who stooped to pick it up. 

transcendere, 'to step across.' 
Persius seems here to contemplate a man 
knowing it would be no use to stoop, yet 
coveting the money. 

112. glutto, *a glutton/ i. 11 note. 
Freund refers to Fest. s. v. * ingluvies,' p. 
112, Mdller; a predicate taken closely 
with sorbere. 

saliva, 6. 24, of the watering of the 
mouth excited by dainties; here called 
Mercurialis, a name applied to traders 
(Hor. 2 S. 3. 25) as arising from avarice. 
See 2. II note. 

113. haec mea sunt, the formula of 
asserting ownership. * Hic meus est ' 
Virg. £cl. 9. 4. 

teneo, as in Hor. 2 Od. 12. 21 
* quae tenuit dives Achaemenes,* 3 Od. 
1 7. 8 * tenuisse Lirim.* 

esto again suggests a legal form. 
ii4..dextro, like *dextro Hercule' 2. 
II, • by grace of thc praetors and Jove.* 

115. farinae, a metaphor from loaves, 
which might be of difierent qualities, 3. 
112 note. Konig compares Suet. Aug. 4 



' Cassius Parmensis . . ut pistoris . . nepo- 
tem sic taxat Angustum: Matema tibi 
farina ex cmdissimo Ariciae pistrino.' 
The sense of the line seems to be * after 
enrolling yourself just now among the 
plulosophers,' as the Scholiast explains it, 
though Casaubon supposes nostrae to be 
said modestly, and paraphrases the words 
<Cum esses paullo ante vitiosissimus,' 
which is also the yiew of Brit., Plaut.^ 
Konig, Heinr. 

iio. pelliculam veterem retines 
seems to be suggested by Hor. i S. 6. 22 
*quoniam in propria non pelle quiessem,' 
which is apparently an allusion to the 
fable of the ass in the b*on's skin: with 
this he combines another image of the 
foa dressed up like a lion, Hor. 2 S. 3. 
186 * Astuta ingenuum vulpes imitata 
leonem/ so as to confuse the details of 
the metaphor, * keep your ass's skin, and 
in spite of your smooth looks are a fox at 
heart' 

fronte politus, instead of *fronte 
polita,* like 'pede liber' 1. 13, *cute per- 
ditus' I. 23. This does not seem to be- 
long to the metaphor. 

117. Jahn refers to Archiloch. fr. 88 a 
5 (Bergk.) K€p9akiTj d\6nrrf^. 

vapido, of wine that has lost its 
spirit, opp. to * incoctum generoso pectus 
honesto' 2. 74. 

118. relego Jahn, from the best 



SAT. V. 



103 



are you able to step across a coin fastened in the mud without 
greedily gulping down the water of treasure-trove in your mouth? 
When you can say with truth, * All this is mine, I have realized 
it/ herewith be free and wise by favour of the praetors and Jupiter ; 
but if after being of our grain only a moment ago you really keep 
yoiu- old skin, and though your brow is smooth enough, have a 
cunning fox still locked up in the musty cellar of your bosom, I 
beg leave to reconsider my concessions, and pull in the rope. No, 
reason has made no admission in your favour; move your finger, 
you make a wrong move ; and where will you have a slighter 
thing than that? but no amount of incense will induce the gods 
to rule that one small grain of wisdom may get itself lodged in a 
foors nature. It is sacrilege to attempt the union; if you are a 
clodhopper every other inch of you, you cannot dance even three 
steps of Bathyllus* satyr. 



MSS., the rest have 'repeto/ which is 
easier: bnt *relego' may very well mean 
*I revise/ ' reconsider.' Val. Fl. 6. 337 
seems to use *reIego' in the sense of 
drawing back a spear. 

funemque reduco, apparently of 
pulling in a beast who has had rope al- . 
lowed him. ' Tortum digna sequi potius 
quam ducere fimem' Hor. i £p. 10. 48. 

119. nil .. concessit, *has given you 
power oyer nothing/ like * ne liceat/ etc, 
V. 97. 

digitum exere, a favourite ex- 
presslon with the Stoics. Epict. Fr. 53 
^ <l>i\oao<pla ^fflv tri oiiZ\ rbv ddieTv\ov 
kter€lv€iv (Uc^ vpoc^icd, and so Plut. de 
Rep. Stoic. 13 has the ezpression dy^cfo» 
rdv iojcrvXw kierftvat. Chrysippus is re- 
presented by Cic. Fin. 3. 17 to have said 
of reputation * Detracta utilitate, ne digi- 
tum quidem eius caussa porrigendum esse.' 
These instances are quoted by Casaubon, 
who adds another Stoic dictum, 6 fiS/po$ 
oibi (paKTjv /eofcwt {teakws) ^i^ct. Some- 
thing like our proverb, * There is reason 
in the roasting of eggs.' 

120. What smaUer thing will you 
choose as a test ?' 

litabis, as in a. 75; taken in con- 
nexion with the next line it has virtually 
the force of * impetrabis.' 

121. The language, as Casaubon re- 
marks, is more or less borrowed from 
Hor. I S. 3. 76 sqq. * Denique, quatenus 
excidi penitus vitium irae, Cetera item 
nequeant siultis batrendat cur non Ponde- 
ribus modulisque suis ratio utiturf* who, 



curiously enough, is arguing against the 
Stoic dogma, that all faults are equal, a 
correlative of that here maintained by 
Persius. 

brevis; as we talk of 'short mea- 
sure,' Uke *curto centusse' v. 191. Jahn 
compares Hor. 2 S. 2. 37 *breve pondus,' 
where * brevis * « « exiguus.' 

122. *FoIIy and wisdom are incom- 
patible.' 

miscere, not unlike Aesch. Ag. 322 
6^ot r* 6\€t<pd r* kyx^ ravr^ tpjT€i, 
Aixoffrarovvr hy ov ^)tkoM vfHxr^vvi' 
itois. 

fossor, doubtless with reference to 
Hor. 3 Od. 18. 15 sq. *Gaudet invisam 
pepulisse /ossor Ter pede terram.' fossor 
opp. to *Mlus et urbanus' CatuII. 22. 9 
Qtihn). 

123. numerus, the time kept in 
dancing. *In numerum exsultant' Lucr. 
2. 631. * Histrio si pauUo se movit extra 
numerum* Cic. Parad. 3. 26, quoted by 
Casaubon. Thus * ad numeros moveri ' is 

* to take steps in time.' 

moveare» *moveri potes,*— of dan- 
cing, as in Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 125 *Nunc Sa- 
tyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur.' 

* Satyrum ' (conjectured by Casaubon for 
the traditional *satyri') is the reading 
of the oldest MS. and is rightly restored 
by Jahn in his edition of 1868. 

Bathyllus, Dict. Biog., was a comic 
dancer in the time of Augustus, so that 
the mention of him here is another in- 
stance of Persius' habit of looking rather 
to books than to Ufe. 



I04 



PERSII 



< Liber egoJ Unde datum hoc sentis, tot subdite rebus ? 
an dominum ignoras^ nisi quem vindicta relaxat? J25 

^ I puer et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer ! ' 
si increpuit, ^ cessas nugator ? ' servitium acre 
te nihil inpellit, nec quicquam extrinsecus intrat, 
quod nervos agitet; sed si intus et in iecore a^o 
nascuntur domini, qui tu inpunitior exis 130 

atque hic, quem ad strigiles scutica et metus egit erilis? 

Mane piger stertis. ^Surge!* inquit Avaritia ^heia 
suige !' Negas ; instat ^ Surge ! ' inquit. " Non queo.** * Suige !' 
^^Et quid agam?** ^Rogitas? en saperdam advehe Ponto, 
castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus, lubrica Coa, 155 



137. negaior. 



130. qtan. 



124-131. ' No mttter, he rq>Iies, I am 
free. As if a man had no other masten 
than those from whom the praetor^s en- 
franchisement deliven himt Trae, you 
can refuse to perform yonr old duties: 
but if you are under the command of 
your passions, you are as mncfa a slave as 
cyer/ 

124. Persius meets this reassertion of 
freedom with a new answer. Before he 
had contended that fools had no rigbts : 
now he shows that they have no indepen- 
dent pcwtr. 

Jahn restores sentis for 'sumis/ 
from the best MSS., so that the expres- 
sion is borrowed from Hor. 2 S. 2. 31 
'Uude datum sentis, lupus hic Tiberinus 
an alto Captus hiet?' and apparently 
equivalent to *Quis tibi dedit hoc sentire?' 

* Sumis ' however has great probability 
on account of datum, both being iLegu- 
larly used as philosophical terms, the lat- 
ter for granting, the former taking for 
granted. 

subdite, voc., equivalent to 'cum 
subditus sis/ like ' Tune hinc, spoliis in- 
dute meorum, Eripiare mihi' Virg. Aen. 
12. 947, for *cum indutus sis.' 

tot subdite rebus, imitated from 
Hor. 2 S. 7. 75 * Tune mihi dominus, 
rerum imperiis hominumque Tot tantisque 
minor ? ' as Jahn remarks. 

125. Persius has again glanced at Hor. 
1. c. 'quem ter vindicta quaterque Impo- 
sita haud nnquam misera formidine privet.* 



relaxare dominum, a bold expres- 
sion for ' relaxare imperium domini.' 

relaxat, either general or for * re- 
laxavit,' like < toUit' 4. 2. 

126. A specimen of a command. * I, 
puer, atque meo citus haec subscribe 
libello' Hor. i S. 10. 92. 

The strigiles (Juv. 3. 263) would 
be carried to the bath, that the master 
might use them after bathing. Konig 
refers to Lnc. Lexiph. 2. p. 520. 

Crispinus, seemingly the name of 
the bath-keeper, may be taken from 
Horace, as Jahn thinks ; but there is 
nothing to ^ow it. 

127. The man does not move, so the 
master addresses him sharply. 

cessas ; * semel hic cessavit * of a 
slave, Hor. 2 £p. 2. T4. 

nugari, of wasting time, l. 56, 70. 

servitium acre, apparently a me- 
taphor firom a goad, which would agree 
with inpellit. 

1 28. * You are not ,a puppet, whose 
strings are pulled extemally* Hor. 2 S. 
7. 81 foli. * Tu, mihi qui imperitas, aliis 
servis miser, atque Duceris, ut nervis 
alienis mobile lignum.' Casaubon shows 
that the image was a very common one, 
especially among the Stoics, occurring 
many times in Marcus Antoninus ; e. g. 10. 
38 ijUfjivTjffo oTi rd vivpoaitaarow kariv 
kiceiifo rb ivhav kyic€«pvfjifjiivov, which 
shows the force of extrinsecus here. 
The original appears to be Plato^ Laws, 



SAT. V. 



105 



* I *m free, for aJl that/ Who gave you leave to think so, you, 
the slave of so many things ? Have you no notion of any master 
but the one whom the wand frees you from ? * Hallo, boy, carry 
Crispinus' flesh-brushes to the bath;' then suppose his tone grows 
sharper : * What ? dawdling and playing the fool ? ' the sting of 
bondage does not make you stir a step; nothing is communicated 
from without to jerk your wires ; but if within, in that diseased 
heart of yours, masters keep growing up, how can you be said 
to come oflf unwhipped, any more than the slave whom the strap 
and the terror of his masters has sent running with the flesh- 
brushes ? 

You are snoring lazily in the moming. * Get up,' says Avarice, 

* come, get up.' No^ say you. She keeps on, * Get up.' * I can't.' 

* Get up.' * And what am I to do ?' ' You ask the question I Look 
here, fetch salt herrings from Pontus, castor, tow, ebony, frankin- 
cense, glossy Coans; be the.first to take the fresh-brought pepper 



I. p. 644 E T<55€ Z\ t<Xfji€v Sti tovto tA 
wd$rj iv '^puv oXw v€vpa ^ fffx^^pivOoi tivcs 
ivovffat airwoi T€ '^fias koI dkK-fjXaiB dr- 
OiKfcovffiv ivavriai o^acu iv kvavTia$ 
vpd^fii. These figures were called v€vp&' 
awaara or * sigillaria.' 

129. iecore .. nascuntur, compare i. 
•35 notc. 

130. *Qui tu inpunitior' Hor. 2 S. 7. 
105. Casaubon. 

exis, *come off/ *escape.* * Quia 
vivus exierat^ Vell. 3. 82. 

131. ad strigiles. Perhaps with re- 
ference to expressions like * servi ad 
remum/ *ad lecticam.' 

scutica. 'Ne scutica dignum hor- 
ribili sectere fiagello' Hor. i S. 3. 119. 
Perhaps to be explained by *fnetus herilis.' 
132-160. *One morning as you arc 
sleeping you are roused by Avarice, who at 
last makes you get up and prepare for 
a'yoyage, where you are to traffic in all 
kinds of articles and struggle hard to 
make your fortune. Just as you are 
bustling away, Luxury takes you aside, 
railies you on your mad hurry, reminds 
you of the discomforts you are about to 
undergo on shipboard, merely that you 
may swell your property a little, and ends 
■by bidding you be wise and enjoy life 
while you can. Which of the two wiil 
you follow? you are puUcd both ways, 
and a single act of resistance to either 
does not make you free. Even if you 
break your chain, you may still drag it 
along with you.' 



132. The personifications remind us of 
those in the Choice of Hercules. Jahn. 

133. Negas is said by the poet, like 
instat. 

134. Et quid agam is thc reading of 
the majority of the MSS. for en. * Well, 
and what am I to do ?' 

Rogitas? en saperdam is one of 
a number of MS. readings, and almost 
the only one whkh suits the metre and 
the sense. 

en . . advehe, like * en accipe* Virg. 
Ecl, 6, 69, *En age* G. 3. 42. ^Sa- 
perda genus pessimi piscis' Fest. s, v. (p. 
324 Mtiller), a fish for salting, seemingly of 
the herring sort. The best were found in 
the Palus Maeotis, Athen. 3. p. 119 b, 7 
p. 308 e, Hesych. s. v., the Greek name 
being aanipSris or KopaKivo$. Jahn. 

Ponto, ablative. 

135. * Virosaque Pontus Castorea* Virg. 
G. I. 58. 

stuppas, *thc coarse part of fiax, 
tow, hards, oakum.' Freund. 

hebenum tus. *SoIa India nigrum 
Fert ebenum; solis est turea virga Sabaeis' 
Virg. G. 2. 1x6 foll., so that Sie voyage 
is meant to extend over the East generally. 
Compare Hor. i Ep. l. 45 foll. and note 
on V. 54 above. 

lubrica Coa may either be * o\U 
like Coan wine' Hor. 2 S. 4. 29, or*gIeam* 
ing Coan garments.' *Coa decere puta* 
Ov. A. A. 2. 298, the former being th« 
common interpretation, the latter Hein* 
rich's. 



io6 



PERSII 



tolle recens primus piper ex sitiente camello^ 
verte aliquid; iunu* ^^Sed luppiter audiet.** ^Eheu! 
baro, regustatum digito terebrare salinum 
contentus perages, si vivere cum love tendis!* 
iam pueris pellem succinctus et oenophorum aptas 
^Ocius ad navem!' nihil obstat, quin trabe vasta 
Aegaeum rapias, ni soUers Luxuria ante 
seductum moneat ^Quo deinde, insane, ruis? quo? 
quid tibi vis? calido sub pectore mascula bilis 
intumuit, quod non extinxerit uma cicutae? 
tu mare transilias? tibi torta cannabe fulto 
cena sit in transtro, Veientanumque rubellum 

exalet vapida laesum pice sessilis obba? 

« 

quid petis? ut nummos, quos hic quincunce modesto 



140 



145 



136. eamdo, 158. uaro, 140. puer is, 144. suppectore, 145. txtinxinu. 



136. ' Be the first to bargain for the 
pepper which the cameMriver hai brooght 
to Alexandria.' 

recens primus. Both point the 
same way; before others have time to bid. 
Comp. with Casaubon (if the reading 
* primus ' be certain) Lodl. Fr. 5. 3 ' Sicut 
cum ficus primus propola reeentes Protulit, 
et pretio ingenti dat primitu paucos.' 

piper, from India, v. 54. 

sitiente, thirsty from its joumey 
over the desert, before the driver has had 
time to attend to its wants. The camel's 
powers of enduring thirst are well known. 
The whole line is parallel to Hor. i Ep. 6. 
33 sq., which Plautius and others compare 
•cave ne portus occupet alter Nc Ciby- 
ratica, ne Bithyna negotia perdas.' 

137. verte aliquid, i.e. *Negotiare 
et speciem pro specie commuta ' Schol. 
Jahn refers to Plaut. Curc. 4. i. 33, but 
observes, with jostice, that this would yield 
but a tame sense after the strong ezpres- 
sions preceding: he accordingly prefers 
to take *verterc* as equivalent to *ver- 
suram facere,* to borrow money in order 
to pay debts, appljring iura to perjured 
denial of the debt thus contracted. iura 
however may refer to false swearing in 
general as a means of livelihood; compare 
Juv. 7. 13, where a poor poet is recom- 
mended to tum auctioneer rather than 



gain a living by perjury. 

138. varo and baro are both found 
in the MSS., and are probably, as Jahn 
thinks, two legitimate forms of the same 
word, differing rathcr in pronunciation 
than in anything else. The former is 
supported by Lucil. ap. Fest. s. v. (p. 339 
MiUler) * squarrosus/ the latter by Cic. 
Fin. a. 23, etc, according to the best copies. 
The Schohast says, * VaronMs dicuntur servi 
militum, qui ntique stnltissimi sunt, servi 
scilicet stultorom,' so that we may com- 
pare * calo* v. 95 note. The word is said 
to be Gallic, and to signify a man, See 
Casanbon. 

terebrare salinom, &Kiar Tpvucar, 
as in Apoll. Tyan. Ep. 7, qnoted by Ca- 
saobon, w6yra iftaal 8je& rdv iforofbr 
mSXqh' a^Uar kfiol 8* ttrj rij/r 6Xiar rpvwSy 
iv Bifudos oXm^, * to scrape and scrape till 
yoo drill a hole in your salt-cellar.' 

salinum, the accompaniment of a 
fragal meal, as in 3. 25 note. 

139. contentus with terebrare. 
perages, *avum,* *aetatem,' or *vi- 

tam,' which is generally expressed. So 
di6rf€w. 

140. pellis seems to have been a sort 
of packing-cloth, as the * sarcina' was car- 
ried in it. See Jahn. 

oenophorum, *the wine-holder ' or 
' liquor-case,' was carried on joumeys, Hor. 



SAT. V. 



107 



from the camers back before he has had his drink ; borrow money 
for your debts and swear you never had iL' * But Jupiter will 
hear/ * Pah, you lout, you will go on to the end of the chapter 
satisfied with drilling a hole with your thumb in the salt-cellar that 
you have had so many a taste out of, if a life with Jupiter is what 
you aim at/ Now you are equipped and loading your slaves with 
packing-case and wine-holder. * To the ship this moment/ There is 
nothing to prevent you from scouring the Aegean in a big vessel, 
unless it be that sly Luxury just takes you aside for a moment^s 
lecture. * Where are you oflf to now, you madman, where ? What 
dan you be wanting ? there must be a great rising of bile in that 
caldron of a breast of yours, which a whole bout of hemlock would 
not extinguish. You skip across the sea? you eat your dinner oflf a 
bench with a coil of rope for a cushion ? and a squab noggin ex- 
haling the fumes of reddish Veientan all flat and spoilt by the pitch ? 
And what is your aim ? that your money which you had been nursing 



1 S. 6. 109. These the master, himself 
succinctiis, equipped fortravelling,thrusts 
on the slaves. Compare * aptaveris' v. 95 
note. 

141. * Quick with these to the vessel ; ' 
the master's direction. 

vasta, apparently to give the notion 
of soccessfully contending with the ele- 
ments. ' Vastis ictibus' Virg. Aen. 5. 198. 

142. rapias. Casaubon compares Stat. 
Theb. 5. 3 *rapere campum.' So 'corripere 
campum, spatia/ etc. Virg. Aen. 5. 144 
foll., 316. 

sollers. Watching her opportunity 
and knowing your weak side. 

143. seductum. 2. 4., 6. 42. 

*Quo deinde ruis?* Virg. Acn. 5. 
741* deinde seems to have the force of 
now or next — after this; like rd intira 
* tbe time next coming/ * for the present/ 
Soph. Ant. 611. 

144. * Quid vis, insane, et quas res 
agis?' Hor. 2 S. 6. 29. 

mascula, of superior strength, per- 
haps like mivot dpcnjy Soph. Phil. 1455. 
bilis, of madness, Hor. 2 S. 3. 141, 

2 Ep. 2. 137. 

145. intumuit. 2. 14., 3. 8. 

The urna contained half an amphora. 

cicutae, hemlock used as a cure on 
account of its coldness (* calido sub pec- 
tore'). Persius probably imitated Hor. 2 
£p* 2. 53, quoted by Casaubon, 'Quae 
poterant unquam satis expurgare cicutae?' 

146. *Non tangenda rates transiliunt 
vada ' Hor. i Od. 3. 24. 



cannabis is * hemp/ so that * torta 
cannabis ' will be a rope. 

fulto b illustrated by Jahn from 
Juv. 3. 82 * Fultusque toro meliore re- 
cumbet,' — * with a hempen rope for your 
couch.' Comp. Prop. 4. 7. 47-50. 

147. He is apparently to lie on deck, 
and eat off a bench. 

Veientanum. * Qui Veientanum 
festis potare diebus Campana solitus 
truUa, vappamque profestis' Hor. 2 S. 3. 
143 sq. Schol. * £t Veieniani bibi- 
tur faex crassa ruhelli* Mart. I. 103 
(104) 9. 

rubellum, a diminutive epithet, 
given to vines, Pliny 14. 2. 4, *reddish.* 

148. exalet, as the liquor would 
offend the smell before the taste. 

pice. Casks and jars were pitched 
in order to preserve the wine — so that 
Persius may mean either that the wine 
has been spoilt and made vapid by the 
action of the pitch, or by the failure of 
the pitch, the epithet vapida, in either 
case, signifying the eiOfect of the pitch on 
the wine. 

sessilis is used more than once by 
Pliny of things with broad bottoms, e. g. 
of pears, N. H. 15. 15. 16. 

obba, an- old word for a drinking- 
cup, used by Varro in Non. 146. 8 foll., 
545. 2 foll., and enumerated by Gell. 16. 7 
among the obsolete 'vulgarisms employed 
by Laberius. 

149. * What is your object? to get a 
greedy eleven per cent. profit on your 



io8 



PERSII 



nutrieras, peragant avido sudore deunces? 150 

indulge genio, carpamus dulcia ! nostrum est 

quod vivis; cinis et manes et fabula fies. 

vive memor leti! fugit hora; hoc quod loquor inde est.' 

en quid agis? duplici in diversum scinderis hamo. 

huncine, an hunc sequeris? subeas altemus oportet 155 

ancipiti obsequio dominos, altemus oberres. 

nec tu, cum obstiteris semel instantique negaris 

parere imperio, ^rupi iam vincula' dicas; 

nam et luctata canis nodum abripit; et tamen illi, 

cum fiigit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae. 160 

^ Dave, cito, hoc credas iubeo, finire dolores 

praeteritos meditor:' crudum Chaerestratus unguem 

abrodens ait haec. ^An siccis dedecus obstem 

cognatis? an rem patriam rumore sinistro 

limen ad obscenum frangam, dum Chrysidis udas 165 



153. nuror. 

u 
103. cbertstraios. 



156. domimu. 

165. arrodens. 



159. abrupit ast tamen. 

165. cbrissidis. 



money, after having realised a modente 
fiye per cent. here?' 

149. quincunce. Dict. Ant. *feniis.' 
T50. nutrieras, of mcreasing money 
by interest. * Nummos alienos pascet ' 
Hor. I Ep. 18. 35. 

peragant, * proceed,' not in the sense 
of continuing, but of doing a thing as the 
next step. 

sudore, expressing the labour neces- 
sary to produce ihe increased profit. 

deunces, cogn. acc. like ' sndabunt 
roscida mella' Virg. E. 4. 30. 

151. genio. 2. 3 note, 4. 27 note. 
nostrum est quod yivis = *nostra 

est tua vita' — *your life belongs to me 
and you (*nostrum' ans. to *carpamus') 
(not to any one else, snch as Avarice), 
and it is all we have.' 

152. *FabuIa fias' Hor. l Ep. 13. 9, 
' lam te premet nox fabulaeque manes* 
I Od. 4. 18. 'You will exist only in 
men's talk about you' Juv. i. 145. The 
Stoics thought that the dead had only a 
temporary existence as shades (* diu man- 
suros aiunt animos, semper negant' Cic. 
Tusc. I. 31, quoted by Delph. ed.), so 
that three stages may be intended. * You 



will become first ashes, then a shade, then 
• a name.' But in 6. 41 the dead man is 
said to be *cinere ulterior' at the time 
when his ashes are put into the um. 

153* vive memor leti, from Hor. a 
S. 6. 97 * Vive memor quam sis aevi 
brevis,' a Ep. 1. 144 *Genium memorem 
brevis aevi.' 

hoc quod loquor ind« est. This 
very speech I am now making is so much 
taken ofif from it. *Dum loquimur fu- 
gerit invida Aetas' Hor. i Od. il. 7. 

154. en quid agis. 3. 5. 
scinderis. * Scinditur incertum stu- 

dia in contraria vulgus' Virg. Aen. a. 39. 
hamo, metaphor,as in Hor. i Ep. 7. 
74 'Occultum visus decurrere piscis ad 
hamum.' 

155. subeas, like *dominnm vebet' 
Hor. I Ep. 10. 40. 

alternus for * altemos.' * You must 
submit to each of your masters in tum, 
and desert each in tum.' 

156. oberres has no grammatical con- 
nexion with dominos, thougH alternus 
refers to it in sense. * oberro,' as a fugi- 
tive slave. 

157. The Delph. ed. compares Hor. 2 



SAT. V. 



109 



here at a mbdest five per cent. should grow till it sweats out 
an exorbitant eleven ? No ; give your genius play ; let us take 
pleasure as it comes ; life is ours and all we have ; you will soon 
become a little dust, a ghost, a topic of the day. Live with death 
in your mind ; time flies ; this say of mine is so much taken from 
it' La, what are you to do? you have two hooks pulling you 
different ways — are you for following this or that? You must 
needs obey your masters by tums and shirk them by tiuns, by a 
division of duty. Nay, if you have managed to stand out once and 
refuse obedience to an imperious command, don't say, ' I have 
broken my prison for good and alL' Why, a dog may snap its 
chain with an effort, but as it runs away, it has a good length of 
iron trailing from its neck. 

' Davus, now mind, I am speaking seriously, I think of putting 
an end to this trouble that has been weighing on me:' so says 
Chaerestratus as he bites his nail to the quick. ' Monstrous, that 
I should be an open scandal to my sober relatives, and bring my 
patrimony to a smash, while I sing drunken songs at Chrysis' 



S. 7. 70 foU. * O toties servus I quae belua 
ruptis, Cum semd efiugit, reddit se prava 
catenis?* 

159. Madvig Opusc. p. 491 foU. con- 
tends that * attamen * can oniy mean * at 
least.' Jahn accordingly reads (1868) 'et 
tamen' here and in 2. 48, on the authority 
of a few MSS. In his edition of 1843 he 
read ' ac tamen ' in both places. 

160. The dog is impeded by the chain 
which it drags along with it (Jahn), and 
can be recaptured with less difficulty 
(Konig). 

161-175. * Take the case of the lover 
in the play : he talks about giving up his 
passion, as discreditable to a man with re- 
spectable connexions. The slave applauds 
his resolution, but finding him hark back 
immediately, tells him that all this is mere 
trifling, playing fast and loose, and that 
nothing will do but a determination not 
to re-enter the place which one has once 
lefit heart-whole. Here we have real firee- 
dom at last, far better than what the prae- 
tor confers.' 

161. An imitation of the opening 
scene in the Eunucb of Menander, which 
Terence has translated, substituting the 
niines Phaedria and Parmeno for Chaere- 
stratus and Davus. Supposing Terence's 
to be a close translation, Persius' imitation 
is sufficiently free. Horace, on the other 



hand (2 S. 3. 259 foll.), foUows Terence 
exactly, though omitting several lines. 

finire dolores praeteritos me- 
ditor is from Hor. 1. c. * an potius medi- 
ter finire labores ? * 

162. crudum properly means *bleed- 
ing* (*cruor,* *cruidus'). Freund. Here 
then it is to be coimected with *abro- 
dens.' 

163. abrodens, ' gnawing away.' 
siccis, opp. to *ebriis.' * Siccis 

omnia nam dura Deus proposuit' Hor. 
i^ Od. 18. 3. * Forum puteadque Libonis 
Mandabo siceis * i £p. 19. 8, 9. 

obstem seems to be used in its pri- 
mary sense of standing before. 

164. rumore sinistro, like * sinistri 
sermones * Tac. Ann. i. 74, * Sinistra 
fama ' ih. 6. 32, etc. 

165. limen, because the lover was 
shut out. Hor. i Od. 25, etc. Perslus 
may have been thinking of Hor. Epod. 11. 
22 *Lifmna dura quibus Lumbos etinfregi 
latus.' 

rem .. frangam. Hor. 2 S. 3. 18 
* omnis res mea . . fracta est,* * Rem 
patris oblimare ' i S. 2. 62. The language 
is taken, not from Terence, but from 
other writers, if not from common life. 

Chrysis is the Thais of Terence. 

udas, variously explained wet with 
ointment (* postes superbos Unguit amara- 



IIO 



PERSII 



ebrius ante ibres exstincta cum face canto?' 

^^ Euge, puer, sapias, dis depellentibus agnam 

percute/' * Sed censen plorabit, Dave, relicta ? ' 

^'^Nugaris; solea, puer, obiurgabere rubra. 

ne trepidare velis atque artos rodere casses! 170 

nunc ferus et violens; at si vocet, haud mora, dicas, 

Quidnam igitur faciantf nec nunc^ cum arcessor et ultro 

supplicety accedamf Si totus et int^er illinc 

exieras, ne nunc" hic hic, quod quaerimus, hic est, 

non in festuca, lictor quam iactat ineptus. 175 



167. diU. 



174. BxUris nunc nc. 



cino ' Lucr. 4. 1179)» with wine ('uda •• 
Ljraeo tempon' Hor. i Od. 7. aa), or 
with tears ('Uda sit nt lacrimis ianna 
facta meis' Ov. i Am. 6. 18, * Limina.. 
lacrimis humida supplicibus' Prop. i. 16. 
4): it might also mean wet with rain 
(' Non hoc semper erit liminis aut aquat 
CtuUstU patiens latus' Hor. 3 Od. 10. 
19). 

166. Hor. I S. 4. 51 ' Ebrius, et, 
magnum quod dedecus, ambulet ante 
Noctem eum/aeibus.' 

exstincta,probabIy from his drdlken 
carelessness, if not from the lain. 

canto, referring to the wapoMkavirt' 
SvfHttf or serenade, such as we have in 
Hor. I Od. 25. 7. 

167. Davus encourages his master — 
hence puer instead of Terence and 
Horace's * here.* 

sapias ; 'sapias, yina liques' Hor. 
I Od. II. 6, quoted by Jahn. 

depellentibus. So 'depulsor' is 
found in inscriptions as an epithet of 
Jupiter. Grut. 30. 3 (Jahn). Compare 
na 2414 in vol. ii. of the Berlin Corpus 
Inscriptionum. The more common word 
is * averruncus.' In Greek, ditoTpSwatos, 
dwcMrUcoKos, or dX^/Murot. 

168. percutere, like *ferire,' a sacri- 
ficial term. 'Pereussi viscera tauri' Or. 
F. I. 347. So *percutere foedus' occurs 
as well as * icere * or • ferire foedus.' 

169. nugaris, dallying where action 
is required, like * cessas nugator * above, 
V. 127. 

solea, referring to the story of Her- 
cules and Omphale, also alluded to Ter. 



Eun. 5. 7. 3,4. The Greeks have a verb 
for the process, fiXavrSw. 

obiurgare, a word used for cor- 
rection. ' Obiurgare verberibus ' Sen. De 
Ira 3. la; 'flagris obiurgaretur ' Suet. 
Oth. a. In Ter. Eun. i. i. 22 foU. Par- 
meno says, 'Haec verba una {Ula vna 
Wagner) me hercle falsa lacrimula . . . Re- 
stinguet, et te ultro accusabis, et ei dabis 
Ultro supplicium.' 

170. trepidare, of beasts who will 
not submit. Casaubon. Compare Prop. 
2. 3. 49 ' Primo iuvenes trepidant in 
amore feroces, Dehinc domiti post haec 
aequa et iniqua ferunt.' So ft^lOtaBai 
seems to be nsed of a beast in a net, 
Aesch. Ag. 1049, ^oug^ it would more 
naturally apply to one snbmitting to the 
yoke. 

rodere casses. Compare the fable 
of the Lion and the Mouse. The line 
must be taken in dose connexion with 
the next, as Davus does not tell his master 
not to struggle, but not to struggle at one 
time and give way at another. 

171* Jahn makes Davus* speech end 
with dicas, so that Chaerestratus is sup- 
posed to say haud mora, 'anon,' or 
* coming directly ; ' but ' cum arcessor ' 
evidently refers to si vocet. In Terence, 
the lover has received a summons before 
the soene begins, and he deliberates whe- 
ther to obey it. In Persius, he is tiying 
to resolve under the pressure of disap- 
pointment, and even then cannot make 
up his mind ; so that his servant tells him 
that if he sbould be summoned back, he 
is pretty snre to entertam the question 



SAT. V. 



III 



dripping door with my light out/ Bravo, young gentleman, show 
your sense ; kill a lamb to the powers that preserve us. ' But 
do you think she '11 cry, Davus, when I 've left her ? ' Now you 're 
trifling. She '11 be boxing your ears with her red slipper, my boy. 
No, no; don't go and be restifif at one moment and gnawing at 
the net that keeps you tight, all fury and violence; and then, if 
she gives you a call, say at once, What am I to do? not to go 
to her even when I am sent for and she goes out of her way to 
beg me I If you have got away whole, and left nothing behind 
you, not even then. Here, here is the man we 're looking for. No 
connexion with the straw which the stupid lictor tosses about. 



seriously. Thos 'igitur' has the same 
force as in the corresponding line in 
Terence : * Quid igitur faciam ? non eam 
ne nunc quidem, Cum arcessor ultro?* 
whereas, according to Jahn's punctuation, 
it would have none. 

haud mora then means *you would 
instantly say, What am I to do ftow f 

173. ne nunc, apparently for *ne nunc 
quidem,' as in Hor. 2 S. 3. 259 foll., and 
twice in Petronius — perhaps, as Jahn 
thinks, a colloquialism. 

Jabn reads arcessat from one 
MS., to tgree with 'supplicet,* which is 
the reading of all the MSS. but two. He 
appears right in his reasoning that either 
the ind. or conj. wouid be admissible 
in this construction, the one actually 
occurring in the parallel passage from 
Terence, the other in that from Horace ; 
but this only helps us a little way to the 
true reading, as the eztemal authority is 
about equsd for ' arcessat — supplicet,' 
• arcessar — supplicet,' and * arcessor — 
supplicat,' which last is supported by 
Bentley on Hor. 1. c. Here, as in a. 
45, the form ^accerso' is supported by 
the majority of the MSS. See Freund 
s. V. 

173. totus, without leaving any part 
of you behind. 

integer has the same sense. So 
Hor. 2 Od. 17. 5 *Ah te meae si partem 
animae rapit Maturior vis, quid moror 
altera, Nec carus aeque, nec superstes 
Inugerf* 

174. hic is an adverb, not a pronoun, 
as ' in festuca * shows. ' Quod petis, hic 
est' Hor. i Ep. 11. 39, ' Hic est aut 
nusquam, quod quaerimus ' ib, 17. 39. 

175. festuca, generally explained as a 
Sjmonyme for * vindieta ' here and in 



Plaut. Mil. 4. 1. 15 (quoted byDelph. ed.) 
*quid?* ean' ingenua an festuca iacta 
serva a libera est?^ The Scholiast has * non 
in «a virga qua a lictore percutitur.' 
Jahn refers to Stephens* Glossary, p. 96, 
' Festucat itdp<f>ot, fidfiJh:* On the other 
hand, Plutarch, Dc S. N. Vind. p. 550, 
says that one of the lictors threw stubbU 
on the manumitted slave, which would 
accord sufficiently well with the ordinary 
use of * festuca,' as in Varro L. L. 5. 31. 
38 ' qui homo in pratis per fenisecta 
festucas corradit.* * Vis festucaria ' occurs 
in Gell. 20. 10. 10. At any rate the 
word appears to be technical, not used 
rhetorically in a contemptuous sense. 
Casaubon says that * exfestucare ' oc- 
curs in the laws of the Alemanni and 
Saxous, and dsewhere in mediaeval La- 
tinity. 

' No symbol was of such universal ap- 
plication among ancient nations as the 
" stipula," the ** festuca," the *• culm,** thc 
•*hawm." Thrice was the hawm to be 
cast when the Teuton bequeathed his land 
to the stranger in blood. Thrice was the 
hawm to be flung down before the sover- 
eign when the lieges refused their assent 
to the doom ; and once was the hawm to 
be cast up in the air before that Senior 
whom his lieges rejected and spurned 
away. To this usage, therefore, the 
sternly indignant Frankish Proceres re- 
sorted, proclaiming that they cast off 
their faith, and with one act in the open 
field — the fidd of council— did they cast 
the hawm — they no longer Charles's 
lieges — Charles no longer their Senior or 
King.* (Palgrave, Hist. of Normandy and 
England, vol. 2.) 

ineptus, because the ceremony does 
not convey leaA freedom. 



112 



PERSII 



ius habet ille sui palpo, quem ducit hiantem 
cretata ambitio? vigila et cicer ingere large 
rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint 
aprici meminisse senes. quid pulchrius? ac cum 
Herodis venere dies, unctaque fenestra 
dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lucemae 
portantes violas, rubrumque amplexa catinum 
cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia vino: 
labra moves tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles. 
tum nigri lemures ovoque pericula rupto, 



180 



185 



177. mgilia. 



179. adum. 



180. uenire. 



176-188. * Is freedom compatible with 
the vanity of the political aspirant, who 
courts the mob and desires to be remem- 
bered for the splendour of his offidal 
shows? Or take the superstitious man, 
who obsenres Jewish ceremonies and 
seeks to propitiate the wrath of Isis — H* 
bondage speaks for itself.' The instances 
are rather awkwardly introduced, as we 
might have expected that Persius, haying 
at last found real freedom, would dweU 
upon it, rather than speak of other kinds 
of slavery. But there is spirit in the 
abruptness, which, at any rate, avoids the 
fault&A>f formality and sameness. 

176. palpo, I. iia, equiy. to 'am- 
bitor.* 

dncit hiantem, imitated from Hor. 
I S. a. 88 ' emptorem inducat hiantem,' 
and perhaps from Virg. G. a. 508 folL 
' hunc plausus hiantem .... Corripuit,' 
where 'hiantem' = 'ayidum.' The man 
follows with his mouth open, ezpecting to 
receive something. The sense of the 
passage appears to be, 'Is the political 
aspirant free ? if so, take all the necessary 
steps to gratify your ambition — these 
being described in such a manner as to 
show that they are really the badges of 
«ervitude. Persius is probably imitating 
the way in which Horace (i Ep. 6) puts 
the question round about the true end of 
life (e, g. vv. 31 foll.) * Virtutem verba 
putas, ut Lucum ligna : cave ne portus 
occupet alter :' compare also vv. 56 foll. 

177. cretata = 'candidata.' The 
gown being rubbed with chalk to make it 
whiter. ' Sit toga additi quodam cretae 



genere candidior ' Isid. 14. 24, quoted by 
Lipsius. 

ambitio, ' the goddess of canvass- 
ing,' not to be rendered ambiiion^ though 
elsewhere the Latin word is nearly equi- 
valent to the English. 

vigila seems to be like * lucet, ea- 
mus' Hor. i £p. 6. 56. * Be on the 
move early and late,' liie requirements of 
a canvass being apparently as exacting as 
those of dependence on the great and 
wealthy. Juv. 3. 127 foll., 5. 19 foU. 

cicer. * In cicere alque faba boaa 
tu perdasque lupinis' Hor. 2 S. 3. 18 2, 
A plebeian artide of food. Hor. A. P. 249 
' fricti ciceris . . et nucis emtor.' Tickets 
for shows, money, etc. used to be scram- 
bled for. Mart. 8. 78, Suet Dom. 4. 

178. rixanti, ' squabbling for a thing,' 
'multo cum sanguine saepe RixatUes* 
Lucr. 6. 1286, of those who struggled for 
funeral pUes during the plague. 

nostra, like * eamus ' Hor. I £p. 6. 
56, the poet identifying himseif with the 
person addressed ' celebrated in our aedUe- 
ship.' 

Floralia, Dict. Antiq. 

179. aprici^' apricantes,' lUce * apricis 
mergis * Virg. Aen. 5. 128. The old men 
delight in basking, like the old women, 
4. 18, 19. 

at. Jahn supposes the meaning to 
be that the successful political aspirant, 
apparently free, is really a slave to super- 
stition ; but it is evident that Persius 
means to mark two kinds of slavery^ not 
one only. Whether he intends that the 
same person is a slave in several respects 



SAT. V. 



113 



But perhaps the maker of smooth speeches, whom the white- 
washed goddess of canvassing carries along with his mouth always 
open, is master of himself? Oh, then, be astir early and late; 
overwhehn the squabbling populace with showers of vetches, that 
the old gentlemen of the next generation, as they prose in the sun, 
may have stories to tell of our feast of Flowers. Can anything 
be finer ? But when Herod's day is come, and the lamps arranged 
in the greasy windows with violets to support send up their unctuous 
clouds, and a tunny's tail expatiates in a curled state round a red 
dish, and the white jar is bulging with wine, you move your lips 
in silence and tum pale at the circumcised sabbath. Then there 
are black hobgoblins and the perils of the broken eggshell; there 



is not clear: the tecond person is used 
here, as in yarious other places in the 
Satire, but we need only suppose that he 
means to touch his auditor's conscience in 
one part, if he fails to do so in others. 
So the end of Satires 3 and 4. At the 
same time there is nothing incongruous in 
representing men of worldly eminence as 
slaTes to superstition. Horace, in his 
▼arious mentions of Judaism, evidently 
implies that it was spreading, taUced of, if 
not fayoured by, the higher orders. The 
account in the latter part of Juv. Sat. 6 
looks the same way. 

180. Herodis •• dies seems to be 
Herod*s birthday, which would naturally 
be celebrated by the Herodians. 

fenestra. Lights were set up on 
doors and windows on festivals. Juy. 12. 
91 foll., and Mayor*s note. Jahn refers to 
Jos. Ant. 12. II, Sen. Ep. 95— compared 
by Casaubon to show that it was a Jen^sh 
custom. Comp. Tertull. Apol. 35 *cur 
die laeto non . . lucemis diem infrin- 
gimus?' 

181. pinguem nebulam vomuere 
is illustrated by TertuII. 1. c. * clarissimis 
lucemis vestibula nebulabant* (where 
however another reading is * enubilabant/ 
which would agree better with 'claris- 
simis'). Sen. I. c. *nec lumine di egent 
et ne homines quidem delectantur fuli' 
gine: 

183. yiolas, another mark of rejoic- 
ing. JuY. I a. 90 * omn^ violae iactabo 
colores.' f 

amplexa catinum, 'coiled round 
the dish,' indicating the size of the 
tunny's tail. '*Angustoque yagos pisces 
urgere catino ' Hor. a S. 4. 77. 

183. The tunny was frequently used 
in sacrifices, being eaten at the temple, 



according to the Scholiast, who howeyer 
may only be reasoning irom the present 
passage. The tail of the tunny is large. 
Persius probably refers to the whole fish, 
not to the tail merely. 

natat seems to be like *vagos' in 
Hor. 1. c, referring to the nature of the 
fish in its native element, so that there 
is a contrast between 'amplexa' and 
' natat/ as between * vagos ' and * angusto 
urgere.' CompareOv. A.A. i. 516 * Nec 
vc^us in laza pes tibi pelle natet* 

tumet, probably referring to the 
bulging shape of the jar, which seemed to 
expand with the wine. The expressions 
in this and the preceding iines appear to 
be intentionally contemptuous ; but Per- 
sius is apt to paint rather coarsely, even 
where he does not mean to ridicule. 

184. 'Labra movet, metuens audiri' 
Hor. i Ep. 16. 60, of muttered prayer. 

sabbata palles. *Metuentem sab- 
bata patrem ' Juv. 14. 96, and Mayor's 
note. Persius seems to mix up feasts and 
fiists rather strangely, apparently with the 
notion that all the Jewish observances 
were gloomy. 

palles, as in Hor. 3 Od. 27. 28. 

185. Having begun to speak of super- 
stition, Persius proceeds to enumerate 
other kinds. 

tum, *next,' as if the same person 
indulged each kind in order. Note on 
V. 179. 

nigri, not strictly equivalent to 
* nocturni,' though the association of night 
with images of terror doubtless gives oc- 
casion to the conception. 

lemures. Hor. 2 £p. 2. 208 ' Som- 
nia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas, 
Noctumos lemures, portentaque Thessala 
rides ? ' 



114 



PERSII 



tum grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdbs 
incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non 
praedictum ter mane caput gustaveris alli. 
Dixeris haec inter varicosos centuriones, 
continuo crassum ridet Pulfennius ingens, 
et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur. 



190 



188. eapud. 



189. btuc oimn. 



185. lemares and pericala areappa- 
tently coMtiucted with * incasiefe,' thoogh 
in that case we mast soppose a zcagma. 

ovo pericala rapto. The Scho- 
Bast sajs priests ascd to pat eggs on the 
fire and observe whether tfae moistare came 
oat from the side or the top, the barst- 
ing of the egg being considered a Tery 
dangerous sign. This observation was 
callMl iHHrmomtttfi, Jahn. 

186. Two kinds of snperslstion — ^the 
old one of Cybele and the latcr one of 
Itis imported from Egypt. 

grandes galli, tike Jayenal's 'in- 
gens SemiWr ' (6. 512). Compare also the 
foUowing Knes, where he speaks of the 
worshippers of Isis. 

sistro. 'Isis et irato feriat mea 
hmiina sistro' Jav. 13. 93, Mayor's note, 
where Ov. ez Ponto i . i . 5 1. folL is qooted to 
ishow.that blindness was a spedal risita- 
tton from Isis. Henoe the pricstest is 



so p poscd to be cafled lasca, as htving 
hersdf felt the wrath of the goddess. 
Visconti (Mas. Pio. CI. 3. p. 60 foll.) ap. 
Jahn speaks of two seals which reprcsent 
Egyptian priests as one^yed. 

187. * Incntere metmn, teiroreni, 
Ibimidinem, rdigioiiem,' are all fooad. 
See Freond. Persias, as is his wont, 
itrengthens the ezpression. Compare 
Virg. Aen. 5. 679, 'ezcassaqae pectore 
Jano est ;' kt. 6. 78 ' magnnm si pectore 
posstt Ezcassissedeom.* 

inflantis, seemingly of the swdling 
of the whole body by disease, as in a. 14., 
3. 95, rather than of oloers. The pre- 
sent participle seems to ezpress the habit, 
10 that ' inflantis si non gustayerit' » 
' qoi inflabant si non gostaTeris.* 

188. ^raedictam, * prescribed.' 'Piae- 
dictaqae dona ferebat* Stat. AdnU. 2. 

capvt .. aUi. C0I6.34.1. So 



SAT. V. 



"5 



are the big orders of Cybele, and the one-eyed priestess with her 
timbrel, hammering into you gods who make your body swell all 
over, miless you have taken the prescribed moming dose, three 
mouthfuls of a head of garlic. 

Talk in this way among the military gentlemen with the large 
calves, that great overgrown Pulfennius breaks into a horse-laugh 
in your face, and offers a clipped hundred-as piece for a lot of a 
hundred Greeks. 



'capnt porri, ulpici.' Th« cttstom appean 
to be mentioDed nowhere else. 

189-19 1. * Talk in this way to the 
soldiers, and they will set you down as a 
fool.' So moch is clear, that Persius 
wishes to give a parting Jdck to his old 
enemies the soldiers ; but whether he 
speaks indignantly, 'And yet all this 
precioos truth is Uoghed down/ or defi- 
antly, 'All this is true, though, or even 
because the soldiers laugh at it,' is not 
easy to see. 

189. See 3. 77 note. 

varicosos. 'Varicosus fiet haru- 
spex' Juv. 6. 397, from being always 
on his legs. ^ here the soldiers, from 
being always on the moye. 'Grandes 
magna ad subsellia surae' Juy. 16. 
14, of the military. Compare ib, 24., 
3*348. 



190. crassum ridet, like ' subrisit 
moUe' 3. iio. Horace's ' dulce ridere,* 
' ridere decorum.' 

ridet,'as in 3. 89. 

Pulfennius, one of a number of 
varieties presented by the MSS., is pre- 
ferred by Jahn on the authority of an in^ 
scription in Murat. p. 816, 7* 

ingens, like ' torosa iuventus ' 
3. 89, ' caloni alto ' ▼. 95. 

191. Compare^. 79. 

Graecos, like 'doctores (jraios' 
6. 38, contemptuously, philosophy being 
hated not only for its own sake but as a 
foreign importation. 

curto, he will not even bid a whole 
centossis, but only a clipped coin. The 
abl. of price. Compare Plaut. Capt. 
2. a. 34 ' Eugepae ! Thalem talento non 
emam Milesium.' 



I 2 



SATURA VI. . 

Admovit iam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino? 
iamne lyra et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordae? 
mire opifex numeris veterum primordia vocum 
atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae, 
mox iuvenes agitare iocos et pollice honesto 
egregius lusisse senes. mihi nunc Ligus ora 
intepet hibematque meum mare, qua latus ingens 



4. UrBpidum, 



6. tgrtgioi. 



A widicaiion o/ bit rigbi ib spend bis 
incom* in modiraU enjoynunt, To Qusiu» 
Bassutf merUioned in Persius* lifi as om 
ofbis inHmaie friends, depuUd {Jby Cbrmi- 
#vs) to edit bis Satires after bis dealh — 
dassed witb Boraee as a lyrie poet hy 
Quintilian (10. 1. 96), vfbo bowever ibinks 
bim inferior lo some ofbis own eontempo- 
raries; kUled, aeeording to Ibe Seboliasi, 
m ibe famous eruption of Vesuvius — 
probably ibe same wilb Ae aulbor of a 
ireaiise on MUres, wbieb is rsferred to by 
Maximus Vielorinus, Terentianus Maurus, 
DiomedeSf and Rufinus, and still exists in 
an interfolated epiiome — but dijferent 
from Gabius or Gavius Biusus, wbo wroie 
works on Ibe origin and signification of 
words, and on tbe gods. Jdim. 

i-ii. *Are you winteriDg in yonr 
Sabine retreat -and wridng verses there? 
I am living in my retirement on the Lign- 
rian coast, at Ennins' faTOurite port of 
Lnna.' 

I. Compare Hor. i Ep. 7. 10 ' Quod 
si bruma nives Albanis illinet agris, Ad 
mare desccndet Tites tuus/ etc, ako a S. 
3. 6 foM. 



bruma B *breTissnma,' 'the depth 
of winter.' 

foco .. Sabino, as Jahn thinks, 
snggests the notion of primitiye life 
(Virg. G. a. 533, etc.) which would be 
in keeping with what foUows abont 
Bassus* tastes. 

a. tetrico. ' Tetrica ac tristis disci- 
plina Sabinorum ' hvrj i. 18. 

▼ivunt 1iere«* vigent,' with which 
it is sometimes coupled. 

3. mire, adr. or adj., if the latter, 
compare Hor. 3 S. 4. 7 ' Siye est naturae 
hoc sive artis, mirus utroque.' 

opifez .. intendisse, Prol. 11. 

primordia vocum, from Lucr. 4. 
531, where it signifies the beginnings of 
articulate sound. Here it is apparently 
to be ezplained by * tetrico pectine ' and 
'marem strepitum,' of the simple and 
manly Tersification of antiquity, which 
Bassus doubtless afiected. Persius prob- 
ably thought of Virg. Aen. 6. 646 ' Ob- 
loquitur mtmeris septem discrimina 
voeum.* 

numeris .. intendisse. With re- 
ference to die stringing of the lyre, Virg. 



SATIRE VI. 



Has winter made you move yet to your Sabine fireside, dear 
Bassus? are your lyre and its strings and the austere quill that 
nins over them yet in force? Marvellous artist as you are at set- 
ting to music the primitive antiquities of our language, the manly 
utterance of the Latian harp, and then showing yourself excellent 
in your old age at wakening young loves and frolicking over the 
chords with a virtuous touch. As for me, the Ligurian coast is 
giving me the benefit of its warmth, and the sea is wintering just 



Aen. 9. 776, speaks of stringing the num- 
bers on the chords ; and Persius goes 
fiirther, and talks of stringing sounds on 
the numbers. 

vocum may denote archaism of 
language as well as of metre ; but there 
appears not the slightest reason to sup- 
pose with Jahn that Bassus actually wrote 
a poem on the subject of language. 

4. marem strepitum, like 'mares 
animos' Hor. A. P. 402. 

fidis .. Latinae,likeHorace'sboast, 
4 Od. 3. 23., I £p. 19. 33 ; compare also 
I £p. 3. 12. ' Our national lyre,' except 
that Persius probably lays a further stress 
on * Latinae/ and means that Bassus kept 
up the andent natioual character of Ro- 
man poetry, as opposed to later refine- 
ments. 

5. iuvenes.. iocos, like *marem stre- 
pitum.' 

agitare iocos, in Ov. M. 3. 319« 
* iocari.' Here it seems to mean rather 
mor« — * to busy one*s self with young 
love,' as a writer, not as an actor. * Agi- 
tare ' foUows the senses of ' agere.' 

iocus in the favourite Horatian 
sense of love, so that 'iuvenes agitare 
iocos ' is nearly=* iuvenum curas referre * 
Hor. A. P. 85, a natural subject of lyric 
poctry. 



honesto seems rightly explained by 
Jahn as em^atic, the tone of Bassus' 
love-lyrics suiting not only the lightness 
of youth but the gravity of old age. 

6. egregius is the reading of a few of 
tbe best MSS., approved by Bentley on 
Hor. I Od. I. 5. 

lusisse, like ' iocos,' with a refer- 
ence to love (Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 214), as well 
as to composition (Virg. Ecl. i. 10). A 
poet is said to do the deed he writes 
about, Virg. Ed. 9. 19: comp. Thuc. i. 5 
ol vakaiol rSiv voirjrwu tcU iruCT€i9 rSfv 
Karav\€6vr<uv . . kpofr&vra. 

lusisse senes, in the sense of 
' amavisse senili more,' like ' senem pal- 
lere* l. 124. 

mihi. The Scholiast says Persius' 
mother married a second time in Liguria, 
so he would naturally reside there. 

Ligus ora, like ' femina Ligus' 
Tac. Hist. 2. 13. 

7. * Et lacus aestivis intepet Umber 
aquis' Prop. 5. 1. 124. * Est ubi plus tepe^ 
ant biemes ' Hor. i Ep. lo. 15. ' Tepidas 
brumas' 2 Od. 6. 17. 

hibernat, like Horace's *hiemat' 
(2 S. 2. 17), where however sbarp wintry 
weather is meant. 

meum, nOt merely * my residence,' 
but * suiting me,' * kind to me.' 



ii8 



PERSII 



dant scopuli et multa litus se valle receptat. 
Lunai portum^ est operae, cpgnoscite, dres! 
cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse 
Maeonides Quintus pavone ex Fythagpreo. 
hic ego securus vulgi et quid praeparet auster 
infelix pecori, securus et angulus ille 
vicini nostro quia pinguior, etsi adeo omnes 
ditescant orti peiqribus^ usque recusem 
curvus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine unctp, 
et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagoena. 
discrepet his alius! geminos, horoscope, varo 
producis genio. solis natalibus est qui 



lO 



15 



1 1 1 ^Hifitft « • €t* 



13. agwlttt. 



8. dant. . latus, at in Virg. Aen. 1. 105 
B * obiicinnt latns/ the sea being shdtered 
by the rocks forming the port. 

valle for ' sinu/ as tf the scene were 
inhnd. AU. of manaer. 

sc.. reccptat, as in Vicg. G. i. 336, 
tbe freq. here peifaaps markiiig the nnme- 
rous bends. Jahn. 

9. Aline from Ennios, Ann. 16. (Vahlen.) 
est operae, parenthetical, like * fas 

est' T. 35, *venit Hesperus' Virg. EcL 
10. 77. 

opera, for opportunity or working 
time, especially in the gen., which seems 
to be partitive. *Operae ubi mihi erit, 
ad te Tenero * Plaut. Truc. 4. 4, 30. 

cognoscite, not * cognoscere/ is 
the reading of the best MSS. 'Cogno- 
scere/ of listening to a narrative, as in 
JuT. 3. a88. 

cives (as Jahn says), is a mark of 
the (simpk) gravity of the old man. So 
his epitaph, 'Adspicite, O cives, senis 
Enni imaginis formam.' 

10. cor. Ennius nsed to say that he 
had tbree bearts^ because he understood 
Greek, Latin, and Oscan. Gell. 17. 17. i, 
referred to by Plautius. The heart was 
often spoken of as the seat of the under* 
standing: comp. Cic. Tusc. I. 9, where 
Ennius is quoted as using 'cordatus' for 
vfiu, * Curis acueos mortalia corda' Virg. 
G. 1. 123. 

cor .. Enni, periph., like 'Virtus 
Scipiadae ' Hor. a S. I. 72. 



dcstertnit, found elsewhere? Fot 
Ennius* dreams, compare on P^ol. a 
foll. 

II. From Cic. Ac. pr. 3. 16 and Lucr. 
I. lao foll., it would appear that Ennius 
did not pretend to have been changed 
into Homer, bnt only to have seen him ia 
a vision. Britannicus however on Prol. 3 
and here refers to Porph^rrio for the state- 
ment that Ennius said at the beginning of 
his annals that Homer's spirit had passed 
into him in sleep. Homer*s revelatioos 
however tumed on the doctrine of metem- 
psychosis, he having been a peacock iu 
one stage of the process (note on ProL 3), 
and so Persius rqpresents Ennius as having 
been himself Homer and peacock, just as 
in Prol. 3 he uses the word ' memini,' as 
if it were Ennius' w6rd about his own 
recollection, when it was really used of 
Homer's. Thus in Hor. a S. 5. 41 Furius 
is confounded with his own Jupiter. 

Quintus is explained by tfae Sdio- 
liast as if it were a numeral — ^the stages 
being a peacock, Euphorbus, Homer, Py- 
thagoras, Ennius. Persius might very 
well have intended a pun ; but then 
we should rather have had ' a ' than 
' ez,' as in ' alter ab illo,' ' a love tertins 
Aiax,' even if this gradation of transfor- 
mations were established. Should Quintos 
be taken with Maeonides, as if it were a 
double name, Ennius and Homer in one, 
Homer with a Roman praenomen ? The 
names were sometimes reversed in poetry, 



SAT. VI. 



119 



as I like itto do, where the sides of the cliffs present a vast barrier, 
and the shore retires into a deep bay. *Acquaint yourselves with 
the haven of Luna, now 's your time, good people all T so says 
Ennius' brain, when he had been roused from dreaming himself 
Maeonides Quintus developed out of Pythagoras' peacock. 

While I live here, without a care for the vulgar or for what mis- 
chief the south wind may be brewing for the cattle, without a care 
either because that nook of my neighbour^s is better land than 
mine, even if all my inferiors in birth should grow rich over my 
head, I would stick to my resolution, seeing no reason why / should 
lose my height and my bulk with premature old age, or dine with- 
out something savoury, or poke my nose into the seal of a bottle 
of flat wine. Another man may take a diflferent view ; aye, good 
horoscope, you sometimes give birth to twins whose star is strangely 
different. You will find a man who on his birthday, of all days in 



and Homer's wonld naturally take the pre- 
cedence. * Quintus fiam e Sosia ' Plaut. 
Amph. I. I. 152. 

1 3-34. ' Here I live, undisturbed by 
thoughts of public opinion, a bad season, 
or the success of my neighbours. Let 
who will grow rich, why should I stint 
myself? Men have difierent passions, 
one for spending, one for sparing : I will 
enjoy myself without runnmg into either 
extreme.' 

la. securus, with gen., Virg. Aen. i. 

350- 

quid, etc. * Quid cogttet humidus 

Auster * Virg. G. i. 463. For the double 

construction. see 3.51. 

13. ' Arboribusque satisque Notus 

pecorique sinister' Virg. G. i. 444, 

• nocentem Corporibus . . Austrum * Hor. 

3 Od. 14. 15, * plumbeus Auster' 2 S. 

6. 18. 

infelix, with dat., Virg. G. a. 339. 

securus put before et for the sake 
of emphasis.. * Aeneas ignarus abest . . 
ignarus et absit * Virg. Aen. 10. 85. 

angulus. ' O si anpdus ille Proxi- 
mus accedat' Hor. 2 S. o. 8. ' Ille ter- 
rarum mihi pra^ter omnes Angtdus ridet ' 
a Od. 6. 13. 

14. adeo, emphatic. * Though not 
only one man of inferior extraction but 
all should grow rich.' 

15. Hor. I. c. 

16. minui, 'to shrink or lose flesh.' 
senio. i. 26. ' Amore seneseit 

habendi * Hor. i Ep. 7. 85. 



unctum, ' a dainty,' as in Hor. i Ep. 
17. la, A. P. 42 a (compare i Ep 15. 
44 * ubi quid melius contingit et unc- 
ftW). 

17. ' Signo laeso non insanire lagoenae* 
Hor. a Ep. a. 134.' 

naso tetigisse. Scrutinizing the 
state of the seal so closely that he can 
tonch it with his nose, and so leam by 
the smell that it is good for nothing. 
A condensed picture, ' more Persii.' 

18. ' Another man may diifer from 
these tastes of mine if he likes — m- 
^ieed twin brothers do not always think 
alike.' 

geminos; sentiment from Hoi. 
a Ep. a. 183 foll. 

horoscope, Manil. 3. 190, aoo. 

varo . . genio may either be a 
genius with two aspects, the same genius 
presiding over both, or a genius differing 
from the genius of the other, just as 
* varus * in its literal sense is an epithet 
both of a bowlegged man and of the legs 
themselves. 

19. producis, of i>irth. 'Ego is sum 
qui te produxi pater ' Plaut. Rud. 4. 4. 
1 39, ' cum geminos produeeret Arria 
natos' Prop. 5. i. 89. Elsewhere of 
education, * £t laevo monitu pueros pro- 
ducit avaros' Juv. 14. 2a8. 

natalibus, i. 16 note, a. i foll. 
Hor. a S. a. 60, which Persius has iu 
view. 

solis, unlike Horace's Avidienus, 
he keeps no other feast. 



I20 



PERSII 



tinguat holus siccum muria vafer in calice empta, 
ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hic bona dente 
grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar, 
nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus, 
nec tenuis sollers turdarum nosse salivas. 
messe tenus propria vive et granaria, fes est^ 
emole; quid metuis? occa, et seges altera in herba est. 
^ Ast vocat oflicium : trabe rupta Bruttia saxa 
prendit amicus inops, remque omnem surdaque vota 
condidit lonio; iacet ipse in litore et una 
ingentes de puppe dei, iamque obvia mergis 
costa ratis lacerae.' nunc et de cespite vivo 
frange aliquid, largire inopi, ne pictus oberret 
caerulea in tabula. sed cenam fiineris heres 



lO 



25 



30 



31. paUna», 



33. seombrQi, 



a6. Emule. . tnetuas. 



32. nec. 



ao. tingnat, not ezpressiTe of mean- 
ness, but simply opp. to siccum, which is 
itself opp. to * unctum * v. 16. 

muria was an ingredient in sauce 
(* ius ') along with otl (Hor. a S. 4. 65), 
so that the miser may haye used it as a 
substitute for oil, which was fhe ordinary 
accompaniment ; ▼. 68, Hor. a S. 3. 58., 

3- 135- 

▼afer, of the low cunning of parsi- 
mony. 

empta, with * muria.' It was bought 
in a cup for the occasion, not kept in a 
jar in the storeroom. 

ai. ipse, emphatic, as in Hor. a S. 
3. 61. 

sacrum. Hor. i S. i. 71, 3 S. 3. 
jio; perhaps referring, as Jahn thinks, 
to such ezpressions as Homer's hXe $€iw : 
the language of early religion. 

inrorans, like 'instillat' Hor. 2 S. 
3. 6a. 

32. Imitated from Hor. i Ep. 15. 37 
' rebus matemis atque paternis Fortiter 
absumptis.* Compare also Ov. M. 8. 847 
' dembso in viscera censu,' which Juv. il. 
40 has copied. 

magnanimus, like 'fortiter,' as if 
the undertaking were a great one,'refer- 
ring also to the spirit of generosity or 

/iCToXo^vx^ ^^ which the spendthrift 
would pride himself. 



peragit answers to our * gets through.' 
puer, * while yet a youth.* Gifford 
notices the rapidity of die metre : con- 
trast it with the slowness of ▼. 30. 

utar. Hor. 2 Ep. 3. 190 * Utar et 
ez modico, quantmn res poscet, acervo 
Tollam, nec metuam quid me iudicet 
heres, Quod non plura datis invenerit.' 

23. rhombos. Hor. 3 S. 3. 48, Epod. 
3. 50, Juv. 4 passim. 

ponere. i. 63. 

lautus ponere. Prol. 11. 
34. tenuis ; ' ezacta tenui ratione 
sapcrum ' Hor. 2 S. 4. 36. Jahn. 

sollers. 5. 37. 

turdarnm, fem. for the sake of 
▼ariety, or perhaps, as the Scholiast says, 
because epicures could distinguish the 
gender of thrushes as well as their breed- 
ing by the taste. Thrushes were great 
delicacies, Hor. 2 S. 5. lo, l Ep. 15. 41. 

saliva, for ' sapor,' effect for cause. 
* Sua cuique vino saliva ' Plin. 33. l. 33. 

25-40. ' Live up to your means. 
You want to be able to help your friends ? 
Very wcU, thcn sdl something — the 
emergency will justify you. Your heir 
will resent this, and visit it on you by 
giving you a mean funeral, and morose 
censors wOl say it all comes of foreign 
philosophy. Will this trouble you in 
your grave?* 



SAT. VI. 



121 



the yestr, sprinkles his dry vegetables with brine, like a knowing 
dog as he is, bought in a cup and shakes the precious pepper 
over his plate with his own hand, while here you have a fine spirited 
young fellow gobbling through an immense estate. Enjoyment, 
enjoyment for me, not that I go to the expense of serving up 
turbots for my freedmen or am a connoisseiu: in the delicate juices 
of hen thrushes. 

Live up to the produce of your own estate each year. Grind out 
your granaries: you may, without fear, you have only to harrow, 
and a new crop is aheady in the blade. * Aye, but there are claims 
on me, a shipwrecked friend is clinging forlomly to the Bruttian 
cliffs; all his means and his prayers are drowned in the deep lo- 
nian waters ; he is now lying on the beach, and with him the huge 
gods from his vesseFs stem, and the ribs of the wreck which are 
beginning to invite the cormorants.' Now, then, break a bit of 
turf from your landed capital, and be generous to the poor man, 
that he may not have to go about with his picture on a board of 
sea-green. But your heir will neglect your funeral feast in revenge 



35. messe, ' the year's harvest/ Jahn'8 
constniction making * tenus ' adv. is very 
harsh. 

propria, opp. to • aliena.' • Livc 
up to your income, but not beyond.* 

vive, of supporting life. Hor. i Ep. 
13. 8, 2 £p. I. 123. 

granaria. 5. iio. 

36. emolere granaria, a strong ex- 
pression. 'Grind out your granaries'^ 
have all your store ground up for use. 

in herba est, * is already in the 
blade.* * Luxuriem segetum tenera de- 
pascit in herba' Virg. G. i. 112 ' adhuc 
tua messis in herba est' Ov. Her. 17. 363. 

37. A supposed objection — * if I spend 
my income, how shall I be ready to serve 
a friend in an emergency ? ' 

Tocat officium. Juv. 3. 339. 
Here * officium ' is relative duty, as in 
Cicero's treatise. 

trabe rupta. i. 89 note. •Frac- 
tis trabibus ' Juv. 14. 296. 

38. prendit. • F^ensantemque uncis 
manibus capita aspera montis ' Virg. Aen. 
6. 360. Casanbon. 

surda, • unheard.' ' Istius tibi sit 
swda sine arte lyra' Prop. 4. 5. 58, 
*surdo verbere caedit* Juv. 13. 194. 

39. condidit vota, as vows are said 
* cadere.' 

30. Paintings, not images, of the 
gods. • Aurato fblgebat ApoUine puppis ' 
Virg. Aen. 10. 171. 



dei shows that there were sometimes 
more thao one, and so Hor. i Od. 14. 10 
• Non di (integri) quos iterum pressa 
voces malo.' The mention of the gods 
seems merely omamental, not indicative, 
as Tumebus ap. Stocker thinks, of tbe 
shipwrecked man^s piety. 

mergis. Jahn compares Hor. Kpod. 
10. 31 • Opima quod si praeda curvo 
litore Porrccta mergos iuveris.* 

31. costa, of a ship. Plin. 13. 9. 19, 
also Virg. Aen. 2. 16, where the language 
is from shipbuilding. 

lacerae. • At laceras etiam puppes 
furiosa refeci * Ov. Her. 2. 45. 

cespite vivo, of turf growing. 
Hor. I Od. 13. 19, Ov. M. 4. 300. Here 
for the mass of landed property, from 
which something is to be sacrificed, with 
reference to the pbrase * de vivo detra- 
here ' or • resecare,* to deduct from the 
capital. • Dat de lucro : nihil detrahit de 
vivo * Cic. Fl. 37. 

32. pictus. I. 89 note. 

33. caerulea, as it would be a sea- 
piece, doubtless with a daub of green all 
over. 

in tabula with 'pictus.' 

cenam funeris, •the fiineral ban- 
quet,* given to the friends of the deceased, 
and sometimes to the public (Suet. Caes. 
26) : distinguished from the scanty meal 
left on the tomb for the dead, 'feralis 
cena ' Juv. 5. 85, or * novemdialis.' Jahn. 



122 



PERSII 



neglegety iratus (juod rem curtareiis; uraae 

ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum, ss 

seu ceraso peccent casiae, nescire paratus. 

tune bona incolumis minuas? et Bestius ui^et 

doctores Graios ^lta fit^ postquam sapere urbi 

cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers^ 

fenisecae crasso vitiarunt unguine pultes.' 40 

haec cinere ulterior metuas ? At tu, meus heres 

quisquis eris, paulum a turba seductior audi. 

o bone, num ignoras? missa est a Caesare laurus 

insignem ob cladem Germanae pubis, et aris 

frigidus excutitur cinis, ac iam postibus arma, 45 

iam chlamydes regum, iam lutea gausapa captis 



45. ae om. 

Thc icntiment from Hor. a Ep. 2. 191 
quoted on v. as. 

34. iratas with quod. 
curtaveris. ' Quantulum enim 

summae ettrtahit quisque dierum' Hor. 
a S. 3. 1 24, ' Curtae nescio quid semper 
abest rei ' 3 Od. 34. 64. 

35. Spices were thrown into the 
funeral fire. ' Congesta cremantur Turea 
dona* Virg. Aen. 6. aa^, *Cur nardo 
flammae non oluere meae ? ' Prop. 5. 7. 

surdum, of smell, like 'exsurdare' 
Hor. a S. 8. 38, of taste. 

36. ceraso. Adulteration with cherry 
bark, mentioned nowhere else, thou^ 
Pliny (la. ao. 43) speaks of adulteration 
with storax and laurel twigs. 

* Dum myrrham et casiam flebilis 
uxor emit' Mart. 10. 97. 3. Jahn. 

spirent .. peccent mark that the 
clauses are dependent on nescire. He 
knows not which of the two be the cause 
— rhetorically equivalent to saying he 
knows nothing of either. 

paratus. i. 132. Here expressing 
deliberation. 

37. The heir's reply to the complaint. 
' Incolumis ' » * inpune/ perhaps with an 
antithetical reference to * minuas.* * Are 
you to impair your property and lose 
nothing in your own person ? ' Jahn in his 
text of 1868, following the suggestion of 
Sinner, transposes *tune bona incolumis 
minuas ' to ¥.41, and ' haec cinere ulterior 



46. elamidens. uietis. 

metnas ' in ▼. 41 to this line. 

Bestius. Hor. i £p. 15 37. In- 
troduced here ' more Persii' (a. 14 note), 
and awkwardly enough, as the charge 
against philosophy has no relation to the 
context. 

38. Ita fit. Cic. N. D. 3. 37 « Ita 
fit : illi enim nusquam picti sunt qui nau- 
fragia fecerunt in marique perierunt.' 
' This is the history of it.' Bestius seems 
to censure everybody: the rich man for 
spending money and also for wanting an 
expensive funeral, and the heir fot 
grumbling at having no more to spend. 

sapere. 1. 9. 

39. £verything is jumbled in the con- 
demnation : foreign pepper (5. 55. 136), 
foreign palms, and foreign notions. 

p a 1 m i s , ' dates. ' ' Quid vult pakna 
sibi rugosaque carica (dixi)' Ov. F. 1. 185, 
Freund; or perhaps oil, Cato R. R. 113, 
Jahn. 

nostrum, of the age. i. 9., a. 62. 

maris expers, from Hor. 2 S. 
8. 15 *Chium maris expers,' not mixed 
with salt water, which was supposed to 
make the wine more wholesome (Athen. 
I. p. 33 D, repeated by Jahn), and so 
Jahn understands it hete. The metaphor 
from wine would agree with 5. ii7t and 
with the classification with pepper and 
palms. ' Maris expers ' s * insulsum.' 
Heinr. So that ' sapere maris expers ' 
would be an ox^msoron. Casaubon takes 
' maris ' from ' mas,' in which case Persius 



SAT. VI. 



123 



for your clipping your property : he will put your aiihes into Ae 
um in an imfragrant state, resolved to ask no questions, whether 
it be that the cinnamon has lost its sense of smell, or that the 
casia has become involved with cherry bark. As if you were going 
to impair your property and lose nothing in your own person! 
And Bestius is severe on the Greek teachers, 'That's how it is, 
ever since this unpickled philosophy of ours came to town with 
pepper and dates, our haymakers have spoilt their porridge with 
those nasty thick oils.' Do you mean to say that you would be 
afraid of this on the other side of the grave ? However, my heir, 
whoever he may be, will perhaps step .aside from the crowd and 
let me say a word to him. My good sir, haven't you Jieard the 
news? bays have arrived from the emperor in honour of a signal 
victory over the Germans ; the cold ashes are being shovelled away 
firom the altars ; the empress has begun to contract for arms for 
the temple - gates, and royal mantles, and yellow woollen for the 



must have intended a pun, as he cvidently 
took the words from Horace. 

40. fenisez is tl^e commoner form. 
crasso. . unguine, an epithet of bnd 

ointment, Hor. A. P. 375, here applied 
contemptuously to all con^ments. 

▼itiarunt; 3.65, spoilt their good 
bonest meal by mixing it 

pultes. 4, 31 note. 

41. ' Would you be afraid of this wben 
you are yourself removed beyond those 
ashes which are to suffer by the supposed 
neglect?' 5. 153 'cinis ct manes et fabula 
fies/ note. 

41 -60. ' I would address my heir in 
this way — Here is an occasion of national 
rejoicing — I mean to celebrate it by an 
act of patriotic bounty. Do you mean to 
question ray right? I am not obliged to 
leave you what I have ? If you despise it, 
I can easily get another heir — some beg- 
gar, who is what my own ancestors were, 
and therefore my kinsman even in law.* 

43. quisquis eris indicates Persius* 
own indifference. 

seductior ; 2. 4, *paulum' with 
* seductior * or with * audi ? * 

43. For Caligula's German expedition, 
see Suet. Cal. 43 foU. He ordered a 
triumph which was to be unprecedentedly 
splendid, and cheap in proportion, as he 
had a right to the property of his subjects 
— changed his mind, forbad any proposal 
on the subject under capital penalties, 
abused the senate for doing nothing, and 



finally entered the city in ovation, on his 
birthday. This happened, as Gifibrd ob- 
serves, when Persius was seven years' old, 
so that he may have been struck with it. 
Perhaps he intended a suppressed sneer at 
Caligula to glance off on Nero. 

num ignoras. Surely you have 
heard the news, and will not wonder at 
my enthusiasm. 

laurus, for the 'laureatae litterae,' 
or 'laureatae' simply, the letter bound 
with bay, in which the general announced 
his victory to the senate. 

45. Compare Virg. Aen. Ii. aii 'cin- 
erem et confusa ruebant Ossa focis.' 

frigidus, perhaps alluding to the 
rarity of such rejoicings. Lubin. 

postibus,/or the temple gates ; ' in 
postibus arma,' Virg. Aen. 7. 183. So 
Aen. 3. 287, Aesch. Ag. 579. 

46. Caligula chose captives who were 
to appear in procession, Suet. Cal. 47. 

gausapa (other forms of which are 
• gausapiae,' * gausapes,' * gausape *), is ex- 
plained by Konig, Heinr., and Jahn, of 
false hair, from the passage 4. 37 (where, 
however, the word is plainly metaphorical), 
like the use of * vestis ' for a beard. From 
Suet. 1. c, it appears that Caliguia ' cap- 
tivos.. coegit rutilare et submittere co- 
mam,' and the provision of false hair 
would be quite in keeping with the whole 
of the sham as Persius represents it. 
Casaubon however refers to Varro, as 
showing that the Gauls, who were dressed 



124 



PERSII 



essedaque ingentesque locat Caesonia Rbenos. 

dis igitur genioque ducis centum paria ob res 

egr^ie gestas induco^ quis vetat? aude. 

vae^ nisi conives! oleum artocreasque popello 

largior^ an prohibes? dic clare! ^Non adeo/ inquis? 

exossatus ager iuxta est. Age, si mihi nulla 

iam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nuUa, proneptis 

nuUa manet patrui, sterilis matertera vixit, 

deque avia nihilum superest^ accedo Bovillas 

clivumque ad Virbi, praesto est mihi Manius heres. 

* Progenies terrae?* Quaere ex me, quis mihi quartus 

49. in lueo, 50. K« n cottiuis, 51. audto. 

54. tUrdis. 56. CHiviumque uirbiL 



SO 



55 



tike the Gennans, and ftctnally selected to 
figure in this triumph (Snet. 1. c), wore 

* gausapa/ and the dress was not uncom- 
mon at Rome, (Ot. A. A. a. 300, Plin. 8. 
48. 73, Mart. 14. 145,) * gansapum ' being 
a sbaggy woollen material, to which the 
epithet *TiIlosum' is applied, and this 
seems the simpler explanation. 

47. ' esseda Britanna,' Prop. 2, I. 7^f 
'Belgica' Virg. G. 3. 204, common, or 
considered to be so, to the Tarious bar- 
barians of the West of Europe. 

locat may point to the intended 
cheapness of the display, as of course it 
does to the firaud, as if tbt materials were 
always kept on hand. 

Caesonia was first Caligula's mis- 
tress,afterwards, on the birth of a daughter, 
his wife, Suet. Cal. 25. 

Rhenos, ezplained by ahnost aU the 
commentators as * Rhenanos :' but pictures 
or images of different parts of the conquered 
territory were borne in triumph. Jahn 
refers to Ot. A. A. i. aa.) foll. 'Quae 
loca, qui montes, quaeTe ferantur aquae . . 
Hic est Euphrates, praccinctus arundine 
frontem: Cui coma dependet caerub, 
Tigris erit.' So the Niie in the triumphal 
representation, Virg. G. 3. a8. Thus the 
pl. is sarcastic. 

48. Caligula punished those who did 
not swear by his genius, Suet. Cal. a^. 

* Mille Lares Geniumque ducis qui tradidit 
illos Urbs habct * Ov. F. 5. 145 of Au- 
gustus, Kouig, Juv. 4. 145., 7. ai, calls 
Domitian * dux,' with like sarcasm — 



perhaps referring to a simikr exploit of 
his, a sham triumph with manufactured 
captives, Tac. Agr. 39. 

centnm paria, from Hor. 3 S. 3. 
85 'Ni sic fecissent, gladiatorum dare 
centnm Danmati populo paria atque epu- 
lum,' where it is part of the proTision of 
a wiU. These disphiys were not confined 
to the Emperor, but were sometimes giTen 
by priTate persons, Suet. Ciaud. 34 ' gladia- 
torio munere tcI suo tcI alieno,' Juv. 3. 
34 Mayor's note, though of course on a 
scale like this they required princely means. 

paria, alone, as in Sen. £p. 7. 4 
' ordinariis paribus.' 

49. induco. 'A me autem gladia- 
torum par nobilissimum indueitur* Cic. 
Opt. Gen. Orat. 6. 17. 

aude, as we should say, 'I dare you.' 

50. coniTCO, nearly = * concedo,* in 
connection with which it is used, Cic. Ph. 
I. 7, opp. to * ferendum non puto.' Persius 
threatens to go further, if his heir blames 
him. 

oleum ; Caesar gaTC the people albs. 
of oil per man, on the occasion of his 
triumphs, after all his wars were OTer, 
Suet. Caes. 38. Nero gaTe oil to the 
senate and equites when he dedicated 
warm baths and g^rmnasia, Suet. Nero la, 
Tac. Ann. 14. 47, Konig. 

artocreas, =*Tisceratio,' according 
to Stephens' glossary, p. 1 16, and that of 
Phiiozenus, quoted by Casaubon and Jahn, 
so that we must suppose bread and meat 
to haTe been distributed separately, though 



SAT. VI. 



125 



prisoners, and chariots, and Rhines as large as life. Well, I am 
coming forward with a hundred pair in acknowledgment to the gods 
and our general's destiny for this brilliant advantage. Who's to 
say me nay ? Just try. Woe to you, if you don't wink at it I I am 
to treat the mob with oil and bread and meat Do you mean to 
hinder me? Speak out. You won't accept the inheritance, you 
say? Here is a field, now, cleared for ploughing. Suppose none 
of my patemal aunts survive me, none of my female cousins on the 
father's side; suppose I have no female first cousin twice removed 
in existence, my matemal aunt dies without issue, and there is no 
representative of my grandmother living, why, I go to Bovillae, to 
Virbius' hill, and there is Manius an heir ready to my handsi. 
* What, a groundling ?' Ask me who is my great-great-grandfather. 



most commentaton ezplain the word as a 
kind of meat-pie. It occurs in an in- 
scription (OrcH. 7. 4937).. ORNETVR 
DEDICATIONE ARTOCREA | POPV- 
LO CVPRENSI DEDIT, which however 
throws no light on its exact meaning. 
popello, semi-contemptnous, as in 

4.15- 

51. * Don't mutter but speak out.' 

adeo seemsto be a Terb, * adire he- 

reditatem ' is a common phrase, * to enter 

on or accept an inheritance,' and *adire no- 

men' is used for 'to assume a name by 

will,' Freund s. r., and the sense agrees 

with what follows — whereas no parallel 

instance of the adverb * adeo' is produced. 

Perhaps there should be a question at 

• inquis ;' * Do you say, I won't accept ?' 

53. exossatus ager iuxta est. The 

early commentators explain 'exossatus,' 

' cleared of stones,' after the Scholiast, who 

singularly renders it 'lapidibus plenus,' 

referring to Oy. M. i. 393 'lapides in 

corpore terrae Ossa reor dici :' yrj dirr^jffft 

is used by Menander, the rhetorician, 

(ap. Casaubon) for stony ground. Casau- 

bon and later editors interpret it exbausted, 

boneless, and hence without strength. 

Might it be literally 'cleared of bones,' 

like the field in Hor. i S. 7, haying been 

once used as a bur^ring-ground, and now 

preparcd for cultiyation? In that case 

Persius will say, ' Here is a good piece of 

property just by — I can easily find an heir 

for it' If we take it exbttusted, it will be 

open to us either to make Persius speak, 

'Suppose all I have is a field, and that 

neariy wom out, I can still,' etc, or to 

make the heir say, ' That is as good as 

('* iuxta ") spoiling your property for good 



and all.' Jahn in his text of 1868 reads 
' Non adeo ' inquis * Exossatus ager iuxta 
est,' making * adeo ' an adverb. 
Age si; Hor. 2 S. 3. 117. 

53. amita is the 'aunt'by the fiither'8 
side, * maiertera ' by the mother's. Ob- 
serve that all the supposed relatives named 
here are femaies. He actually left his 
property to his mother and sisters, as ap- 
pears from his life, which also speaks of a 
paternal aunt. 

54. sterilis. . vixit, 'has died without 
issue.' 

55. Bovillae, between Rome and Ari- 
da (Hor. i S. 5. i), the first stage on the 
Appian road, called ' suburbanae, Prop. 5. 
I. 33, Ov. F. 3. 667. 

56. clivum.. Virbi, mentioned more 
than once by Martial (2. 19. 3, etc), as 
' clivus Aricinus ;' Virbius, the Italian Hip- 
polytus, being the hero of Aricia, Virg. 
Aen. 7. 761 foU. It was a great resort 
for beggars, Mart. 1. c, Juv. 4. 117, 
Mayor's note, and Persius says that one 
of ^ese is ready to be his heir. * Multi 
Mani Ariciae,' was an old proverb, Fest. 
S.V. * Manius,' (p. 145 Miiller) who ap- 
pears to understand it of the town in the 
days of its prosperity, when many great 
men were there — from this it may 
easily have passed into a sneer in the 
altered days of the place, so that *one 
of the aristocracy of Aricia' would be 
synonymous with a beggar. But the name 
is given to a slave by Cato, R. R. 141. 

57. Progenies terrae, is the heir's 
conmient. ' You step at once from your 
relatives to the son of nobody knows who.' 
'Terrae filius' occurs in Cic. Att. I. 13, 
' terrae filio nescio cui.' 



126 



PERSII 



sit pater: haud prompte, dicam tamen; adde etiam unum, 

unum etiam: terrae est iam filius, et mihi ritu 

Manius hic generis prope maior avunculus exit. 60 

qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis? 

sum tibi Mercurius^ venio deus huc ego ut ille 

pingitur; an renuis? vin tu gaudere relictis? 

dest aliquid summae. Minui mihi; sed tibi totum est, 

quidquid id est. ubi sit^ fiige quaerere, quod mihi quondam 65 

legarat Tadius, neu dicta repone patema. 

'fenoris accedat merces; hinc ezime sumptus, 

quid reliquum est?' Reliquum? nunc, nunc inpensius ungue, 

ungue, puer, caules! mihi festa luce coquetur 

urtica et fissa fimiosum sinciput aure, ^ 70 

^ 59. «1/ itiam, 6i. poteas. 65. mms iu, 

64. Dt t$i. 66. iaiuta, poiu. 68. iam pmma. 69. wtgt. 



58. pfttres u nsed gcDenlly of an- 
cestry, so Penius caUs the great-great- 
grandfather (' abayus *) * quartus pater.' 
' Pilmmiiisqiie illi quartus pater' Virg. 
Aen. 10. 619. 

haud prompte,' dicam tamen, 
/i^Xif ijuhf k^tpS» h* i/uM, or something 
iike it, would be the Qreek eqnivalent. 
Jahn compares Lncan i. 378 'invita 
peragam tamen onmia dextra.' 

adde etiam unum. 'Demonnum, 
demo etiam (if this and not * et item ' be 
thetme reading) unum,' Hor. 2 £p. 1.46. 

59. ' At last he is a soo of earth.' 
ritu, with * gencris/ thongh Jahn sepa- 

rates them, ' by regnhr descent.* 

60. maior ayunculus was the great- 
grandmother^s brother, ' magnus' being the 
graDdmother's, and ' maximus ' the great- 
great-grandmothcr^s. Freund referring to 
Paulus and Gaius, Isid. Orig. 9. 6. 17, 
gives ' proavunculus.' Persins does not 
pretend strict accuracy ('prope') or he 
would not only hare had to push the 
relationship several degrees back, but he 
would hare said 'patruus,' not *avun- 
culus.' ' ATunculus maior ' is sometimes 
nsed for * ayuncuhis magnus,' and ' avmi- 
culus' simply for 'aTunculns maior;' see 
Freund. 

ezit, like ' evadit,' ' tums ont to be,' 
1.45 note, thottgh here there seems no 
definite metaphor. Persius* argnment is 
like JuT. 8. aya, tracing the nobte to 



Romuhu' gang. Con^re abo Jut. 4. 
98, where the * terrae filii ' are ennobled 
as little biothers of the earth-bom giants. 
61-74. Persius continues to his heir, 
' Why wish to succeed before your time? 
Inheritance is/arhmf — ^take it for what it 
is worth. Att l leave will be yours, bnt 
mark— 4t is what I icasw, not what I 
bav€ or bavt bad. Yonr sdfishncss only 
makes me resolTcd on being sdfish too. 
You would hare me save — not only for 
yon, but for your descendants, who are as 
likely as not to be spendthrifts and pro- 
fligates.' 

61. For the XnfamHkf^opla see Dict. 
AnL 

prior, 'you who aie befbre me, and 
whose tum is not yet come.' Jahn seems 
rig^t in hiying a sticss on 'in decursu,' 
' while I am running,' ' before I have done 
Tunning. 

decursns, as he remarks, is the 
word f or a Roman cnstcMn of ranning in 
armour at iimeral games, Viig. Aen. 11. 
189. Cicero has ' decursus mei temporis,' 
Fam. 5. a, and 'dccursns honorum,' de 
Or. I. I. 

Doscis, 'without waiting tiU I gire 
it np. The well-known passage, Lncr. a. 
79, is not qnite paraUel, as the snccestion 
there is of Ufe, here of inheritanoe. 
6a. Mercurins. a. 11 note. 
^3- pingitur, i. e. ' with a money bag.* 
Preller, Romische Mythologie, p. 599, men- 



SAT. VL 



127 



Give me time and I can tell you. Cjo back one step more, and one 
more. I come to a groundling at last ; and so in strict legal descent 
Manius here tums out to be something like my great-great-uncle. 

Why should you who are before me in the race ask for my torch 
before I have done running? You should regard me as Mercury. 
I present myself to you as a god, just as he does in his picture. 
Will you take what I leave and be thankful? There is something 
short of the whole sum. Yes, I have robbed myself for myself ; 
but for you it is all, whatever it may be. Don't trouble yourself 
to ask what has become of what Tadius left me years ago, and 
don't remind me of my father. Add the interest to your receipts. 
Now, then, deduct yom* outgoings, and there remains what? Re- 
mains what, indeed? Souse the cabbages, boy, souse them with 
oil, and don't mind the expense. Am I to have nettles boiled 
for me on holidays, and smoked pig's cheek split through the ear, 



tions ' viele kleine Bronzestatuen, welche 
ihn (Mercurius) gewohnlich mit den 
beiden herkdmmlichen Attributen des 
Schlangenstabes und des Beutels darstellen.' 
Jahn refers to Mus. Borb. 6. 2., 8. 58, 
Miiller Mon. Art. Ant. a. t. 29 foll. The 
Delph. ed. compares Hor. 2 S. 3. 67 *an 
magis excors Reiecta praeda, quam prae- 
sens Mercurius fcrt?' 
renuis. v. 51. 

Tin. Bentley on Hor. 2 S. 6. 92, 
distinguishes between 'vin* tu* and 'vis 
tu/ supposing the one to be a simple 
question, the other a virtual command. 
Jahn however quotes Sulpicius in Cic. 
Fam. 4. 5 * visne tu te, Servi, cohibere ?* 
Here the answer ezpected seems to b^ 
affirmative, whether we suppose a com- 
mand or a mere question to be intended. 
gaudere, as we should say, * to take 
and be thankfiil.' 

relictis, of Meaving by wiU.* 
64. summae. Hor. a S. 3. 124, quoted 
on V. 34, id, I S. 4. 3a. 

mihi, emphatic, 3. 78, odx tva ri 
/i^ l«c/i^, dAX' fra avT^. 

65. quidquid id est; Virg. Aen. 
2. 49. 

fuge quaerere ; Hor.l Od. 9. 13. 
66. Stadius is read by most MSS., but 
as it is found nowhere except in a doubt- 
fbl inscription, Jahn inclines to * Tadius ' 
or * Staius,' both of which have some MS. 
authority. 

neu dicta repone paterna,= 
' neu sis pater mihi,' compare 3. 96, ' do 
not give me my father's language over 
again.' So *repoms Achillem,' *brmg 



again on the stage,' Hor. A. P. lao. 

* Oppone' Jahn (1868) from one of his 
Paris MSS. 

67. This line has hitherto been taken 
by itself, * hinc ' being referred to * mer- 
ces.' ' Get interest, and live on 1/, not on 
your principal.' * Accedat,' * exime,' and 
•rcliquum' however, are clearly corre- 
latives, so that we must suppose the whole 
*Feneris .. reliquum est,' to be uttered 
by Persius as a specimen of the patemal 
tone which the heir adopts. * Carry your 
interest to your account — ^then subtract 
your ezpenses — and see what is over,* L e. 
see whether you have managed to live on 
the interest of your money or not. 

* Hinc ' then had better be referred to the 
whole sum after the addition of the in- 
terest, though the other view is possible. 
Compare Hor. A.P. 327 foU. *si de quin- 
cunce remota est Uncia, quid superat? 
. . Redit uncia : quid fit?' The father by 
using technical terms implies that he 
wishes his son to be familiar witb ac- 
counts. 

merces, as in Hor. i S. a. 14., 3. 
88, here it is rendered definite by ' fe- 
neris,' as there by the contezt. 

68. Persius repeats *reliquum' indig- 
nantly, like ' cuinam' a. 19. 

inpensius, opp. to *instillat,' Hor. 
aS. a.6a. 

ungue. . caules, Hor. a S. 3. la^. 

69. puer, *this slave,' as in 5. ia6. 
festa luce. v. 19., 4. a8, Hor. 2 S. 

a. 61., 3. 143. 

70. urtica, Hor. 1 Ep. la. 7, 'herbis 
vivis et urtica,' where some interpret it a 



128 



PERSII 



ut tuus iste nepos olim satur anseris extis, 
cum morosa vago singultiet inguine vena, 
patriciae inmeiat vulvae? mihi trama figurae 
sit reliqua, ast illi tremat omento popa venter? 
Vende animam lucro^ mercare atque excute soUers 
omne latus mundi, nec sit praestantior alter 
Cappadocas rigida pinguis plausisse catasta: 
rem duplica. * Feci ; iam triplex, iam mihi quarto, 
iam deciens redit in rugam: depunge, ubi sistam/ 
Inventus, Quysippe, tui finitor acervi. 



75 



80 



1^»pairitiai. 



75. VmU, 



fish. Penius howerer plainly means a 
Tcgetable, imitatiag Horaoe, 2 S. a. 116 
foll. * Non ego . . temere edi hice profesta 
Quidquam practer boiusfumosat cum pede 
pcniae,' while he as pbinly took the word 
firom the passage in the Epistlcs. 

70. sincipnt, 'pig's cheek,' Phiut. Men. 
1 . 3. a8, Petron. 135 * faba ad usum reposita 
ct sindpitis vetustissimi particula.' Smoked 
pork was a common rustic dish. Hor. 
L c, JuT. II. 8 a, Moret. 57. 

71. ncpos, in the double scnse. The 
foUy of saving is raore apparent, the more 
distant thc descendant who wiU squander 
the money. 

exta, like awkiyxf^t of the larger 
org^ns of the body. *Exta homini ab 
inferiore Tiscerum parte separantur mem- 
brana,' Plin. 11. 37. 77 : here of the liTer, 
a weU-known dainty, Hor. a S. 8. 88, Jut. 
5. 114, Mayor^s note. With the sentiment 
compare Hor. a S. 3. laa 'Filius, aut 
etiam haec libertus ut ebibat heres.. custo- 
dis?'aIso I £p. 5. la. 

73. trama, as ezplained by Sen. Ep. 
90. 30, scems to be the thread of the warp 
(* stamen '), not of the woof (* subte- 
men '), as ScrT. says on Virg. Acn. 3. 483, 
quoting this passage, and Jahn after him. 
And so the image seems to require, 'which 
is from a cloak, where the nap is wom 
away and only the threads remain. Ca- 
saubon quotes Eur. Aut. Fr. la (Nauck) 



rpi0ea^€t UfiaX6mt otxoimu iep6iKU. 

figurae, 'the shape.' * Formai fi- 
gura ' Lucr. 4. 69, gen. or dat. ? if the 
former, «the mcre thread of my shape,* 
the skeleton, * Is my shape to dwindle to 
a thread?' 

74. reliqna, possibly with a sneering 
reference to ' reUquum ' t. 68. 

tremat, 'wag before him.' 
omento, *the adipose membrane,' 
a.47. 

popa, subst. used adjcctiTely, tt. 4, 
5 aboTC, from the famess of the priests' 
assistants (' popae '). * InflaTit cum pinguis 
ebur Tyrrhenus ad aras^ Virg. G. a. 

193- 

75-80. • WeU — go on heaping up more 

wealth — ^more, more, more. Are you 

ncTcr to stop? Never* Persius still sp^s 

to his heir, who is assumcd to Talue wealth 

for its own sake (t. 71)» ^^^ condemns 

him as it were to the fate of constantly 

seeking and ncTcr bdng satisfied — not 

unUke the punishment of the Danaidcs, as 

explained by Lucr. 3. 1009 foU. 

75. Vende animam lucro. Casau- 
bon quotes a Oreek proTcrb, Ba^&rov 
&¥ioif rb K4p9otj and Longin. Subl. 44. 9 
r6 1« roO wayrbt K€p9alr€W i/yo6iiM0a rrit 
i/wxot: 'theUfe.' 

ezcute, metaj^or, as in i. 49., 5. 
aa. 

76. latus mundi, Hor. i Od. aa. 19. 



SAT. VI. 



129 



that your young scape grace may gorge himself on goose's in- 
wards? are my remains to be a bag of bones, while he has a 
priestly belly wagging about with fat? 

Sell your life for gain; do business; tum every stone in every 
comer of the world, like a keen hand; let no one beat you at 
slapping fat Cappadocians on the upright platform; double your 
capital. * There it is — three, four, ten times over it comes into my 
purse : prick a hole where I am to stop/ Chrysippus, the man to 
limit your heap is found at last 



ne sit praestanfior alter. *Duin 
ne sit te ditior alter' Hor. I S. 1. 40, 
which leads us to take * ne ' here * lest.* 
Compare Hor. i £p. 6. 20 foU. ; * praestan- 
tior alter' Virg. Aen. 6. 164. 

77. For Cappadocian slayes, see Hor. i 
Ep. 6. 39 * Mancipiis locuples, eget aeris 
Cappadocum rex/ Mart. 10. 76. 3 *Nec 
de Cappadocis eques caiastis* 

rigida, *fixed upright.' * Rigidae 
colmnnae * Ov. F. 3. 529, Jahn. 

plansisse; 'plausae sonitum cer- 
vicis amare' Virg, G. 3. 186, *pectora 
plausa* Aen. 12. 86. The buyer claps 
the slaves to test their condition, hence 

• pingues.* 

catasta, Mart. 1. c, Dict. Ant. * Let 
no one beat you as a judge of slaye- 
flesh.' 

78. Imitated from Hor. i Ep. 6. 34 foll. 

* Mille talenta rotundentur, totidem altera 
— porro Tertia succedant, et quae pars 
quadret acervum/ and imitated in tum by 
Juv. 14. 323 foll. 

quarto, as if ' ter ' had preceded. 

79. redit, *of reyenue;' *reditus/ and 
so doubtless in Hor. A. P. 329. 



rugam, 'the fold of the garment/ 
Plin. 35. 8. 34, as * sinus ' is used of a 
purse : *rugam trahit' in the imitation by 
Juv. 14. 325 looks as if he had misunder- 
stood the meaning here to be * makes you 
frown dissatisfaction.' Casaubon however 
explains * rugam ' there of the ' sinus.' Is 
there any ailusion to ' duplica/ as if there 
were a fold for each sum? 

depunse, better than 'depinge/ 
though the Tatter has a majority of MSS. 
in its favour, and is restored by Jahn, like 
* fige modum.* The man himself wisbes to 
be checked. 

80. *Why then Chrysippns* problem 
has been solved,' — implying that the man 
expects an impossibility. 

acervi, the sorites, not the cumu- 
lative syllogism, but the fallacy. * Ratione 
ruentis acervi' Hor. 2 £p. i. 47. Casaubon 
comparcs Cic. Acad. 2. 29, where the 
words *nullam nobis dedit cognitionem 
Jinium, ut in uUa re statuere possimus 
quatenus* will explain 'finitor.' Chry- 
sippus' own solution was to halt arbitrarily 
at a certain point {quiesceret i^tivxaiuv^ 
kwix*if^), and declineanswering. 



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Elements of Natural Philosophy. By the same Authors; being a 

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M.A., F.R.S., Senior Student of Christ Church, and Lee's Reader in Chemistry ; 
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Optics. By R. B. Clifton, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Experimental 

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Electricity. By W. Esson, M.A., F.R.S., Fellow and Mathematical 

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The Philology of the EngUsh Tongue. By J. Earle, M.A., formerly 

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Specimens of Early English. Part 11. a.d. 1298 to a.d. 1393. A 

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See also XII, helaw for other English Classics, 

Vm. FBENCH LANGUAaE AJTD LITERATUBE. 
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each Exerdse being preceded by Grammatical Questions. By the same Author. 

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Clarendon Press Series. ii 



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merly Student and Tutor of Christ Church, Oxford With coloured Hlustra- 
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Schools and Middle Class Schools ; in which English Literature must 
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A Gteneral Introduction to the Series. By Professor Brewer, M.A. 

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9. Pope. With Introduction and Notes. By Mark Pattison, B.D., 
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I. Essay on Man. Extra fcap. 8vo. sHffcovers, is. 6d 
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12. Cowper. The Task, and some of his minor poems. Edited by 
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